


Crossing the lines between us

by serendimplelity



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cigarettes, College, College Student Eren Yeager, College Student Jean Kirstein, College Student Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Drama, Drug Use, Eventual Romance, F/M, FWB, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Friends With Benefits, Humor, I'm slowly realizing this might get a lot more angsty than I planned, Jealousy, Kissing, Levi is an RA, Love Bites, Love Triangle, Maybe angst, Misunderstandings, Modern Era, Oral Sex, Parties, Possessive Behavior, Roommates, Sexual Tension, Sharing a Bed, Slow Burn, Smut, University, Unrequited Love, Vaginal Sex, cursing, fuckboy eren yeager, i guess i should tag the seggs stuff, lots of swear words, oral in the shower, snk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-15 06:22:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 27
Words: 45,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28559022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serendimplelity/pseuds/serendimplelity
Summary: Your pleasant time with roommate Eren Yeager has taken a turn for the worst, as his continuous habits of bringing home a new girl each night render you sleepless for weeks on end and just the slightest bit curious.Now with your own plan to exact revenge, will old feelings arise? Or will new temptations spill through?***"Alright, just remember my offer still stands, if you need anything." He stood up and walked his way to his room. "I'll see you there."You just nodded, slightly unsure of what offer he was referring to. It had to be the one he was offering to drive you there and back, but then again he had said it quite ambiguously. Either way, you weren't planning on taking either offers tonight.
Relationships: Eren Yeager/Reader, Jean Kirstein/Reader, Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin)/Reader
Comments: 279
Kudos: 706





	1. Handful of what?

You placed your head on the book you had sitting before you and groaned.

"You alright?" Your friend Sasha said tapping you lightly on the shoulder.

You turned your face towards her, a dead look in your eyes from utter exhaustion. "It happened again." You frowned.

"He had sex again?" Sasha's eyes widened, she leaned back in her seat in awe. "Wow, your roommie's something else."

The fact that your roommate was having sex didn't bother you. You were totally fine with the guy being sexually active. What bothered you was how vocal each girl he brought back to your shared paper thin walled apartment were.

It had only just really started this month. He had started bringing back a new girl every few days. It was fine at first, you could deal with a few groans here and there, but after awhile you didn't just hear slight sighs and moans. You could hear the bed rocking against the wall, high pitched yelling sighs and just everything in between. Just when you'd think they were done, it would start all over again.

You were just a little curious as to what was going on in the room beside you. Partially wondering what in gods name Eren Yeager could have been doing to his poor guests to make them so vocal. Either way, those thoughts were more so clouded by anger, as each night you loss sleep to the sound of their ruckus, and it was really starting to get on your nerves.

"I don't know what to do anymore." You huffed while pushing yourself up from the textbook before you.

"You just need to bring your own boy home, and be noisier than ever." Sasha waved her arms, her eyes shining at her brilliant idea. "Give Mr. Hormonal a run for his money."

"Yeah, sure." You sighed, your hands holding your head up to stop it from bobbing back on the table from exhaustion. "Like I could find a last minute hookup?" 

"Well we could quickly find you a hookup on Tinder?" Sasha reached for your cellphone, but once she saw the look on your face she pulled herself back.

"No." You said flatly, your Tinder days were long behind you and you'd rather not have to swipe through a bunch of horny creeps again.

"Alright, Tinder is a no, how about..." Sasha stopped herself as she looked up at Jean, who you both had forgotten was also sitting ay the table with you two.

You both had totally blanked on him being there this whole time. He was yours and Sasha's close friend who had tagged along on your little study date. Which he probably totally regretted coming to, you assumed.

"Jean!" Sasha squeaked.

Jean looked up from his book he had been trying to keep his eyes glued to in an effort to divert himself from the discussion at hand.

"Yes!" She threw her hands up in the air in triumph. "It'd be perfect, you guys are already close friends, you've slept in the same bed before, you guys are totally comfortable with each other, what can a bit of casual sex do?"

Jean's adam's apple bobbed, as you contemplatingly bit your lip. You and Jean had done the whole casual sex thing when you had first met in freshman year, but ended things as to not mess up your friendship. No matter how great of an attraction was between the two of you, deep down you knew neither of you were ready to actually be in a relationship, making the mature decision to quit while things were ahead was the best step to take in ensuring not to create a rift in their friend circle. 

"I don't know about that." Jean said rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, a blush dusty rose blush began to appear on his cheeks as he looked off in the distance.

"Oh come on, Y/N do you really want to continue loosing sleep? And Jean are you really going to prevent Y/N from showing up Mr. Hormonal?" Sasha stood up taking on a fierce stance, but then slid herself back down as she realized the surrounding people of the café were staring at her, she took a long sip of her coffee keeping her eyes on the two of you.

"I'm with Jean, I'm not sure that's a good idea." Sasha's eyes narrowed on you.

"Anyways, I'm actually out of condoms at the moment." Jean interjected before Sasha could say anything.

Sasha wiggled her eyebrows as she pulled out a handful of condoms from her purse. "Already got you covered."

You and Jean stared at the pile of condoms now sitting in the center of the table.

"How do you have that many condoms in your purse?" You questioned, but Sasha only answered with a smirk. "That's besides the point...umm... I'm on my period, so I can't."

"Liar." Sasha whisper yelled this time pointing her finger into your face. "Yesterday, I asked you for a tampon and you said you didn't have one on you because you finished yours a week ago."

You grumbled to yourself, there was no way the two of you could get out of this now that Sasha was dead set on setting the two of you up.

Sasha downed the rest of her drink and leaned back in her chair, "now pick out your condoms."

You both glared at her as you each grabbed a few condoms and stuffed them into your pockets. While Sasha basked in her triumph as she began to shovel down a slice of banana bread that she also had conveniently hidden in her purse.


	2. Throwback Sex

Sasha walked both you and Jean back to your apartment, ensuring that neither of you would back out.

Neither of you did, but once alone in your room things suddenly felt awkward. The air felt thick, it's not like this was the first time you had been left alone in a lockable room with Jean. It felt different. After all this time, you thought things would feel much more comfortable being alone in a room with him, and, yet he still made you nervous. Especially when your eyes would meet.

With nothing else to do to fill the awkward feeling you were both harbouring, the two of you decided to look over your study notes from earlier until you knew for sure Eren was back and settled into his room.

"Can you promise me something?" Jean broke the silence between you two.

"Sure." You looked up at him from your class notes.

"Just promise me that this won't ruin things between us, like it almost did last time." He looked into your eyes with so much raw emotion that your mind fluttered back to memories of that last time.

All of your previous worries seemed to wash away.

"I promise." You replied pulling him into a hug and planting a kiss on his cheek.

At that moment you heard the click of your apartments front door open and then the click of it closing. You listened to Eren's footfalls as he made his way to his respective room and once you heard his body make contact with his bed, you smirked at Jean and mouthed the word 'Showtime'. He simply replied with a casual wink.

Once the two of you had stood up, it was almost as if something ignited inside of Jean. He pushed you up against the wall with a loud thud. He kept your hands pined above your head and gave you a look you hadn't seen in a long time. A look you had memorized so well.

"Can you stop being so distracting?" He growled into your ear sending shivers down your spine, you forgot he had that kind of power over you.

"I - I'm sorry," you stuttered caught off guard by the sudden role play, you bit your lip innocently as he looked at you hungrily.

"There you go again, bitting your lip, how can I study with you bitting your lip at me." He whispered into your ears.

There was no reason for the two of you to actually play this far in to it, and yet there you were acting as if a fire had been lit between you two.

His lips began to trail kisses down your neck to your collarbone where he met your sweet spot. He bit down causing you to let out a stifled moan. His free hand grabbed hold of your outer thigh tightly bringing it up around himself, he let go of your hand and grabbed your other leg hiking you up against the wall. His hips pressed against yours as he continued to shower your tender collarbone with nips and kisses.

Your hands sat on his broad shoulders, and each time he pressed himself into you, you responded with a tight squeeze to his shoulders. He let out a soft moan between kisses as you grabbed hold of him strongly. His lips met yours again and you could already feel his growing bulge.

He pulled his mouth slightly away from yours, far enough to feel his absence but close enough to still feels his breath. "This is one hell of a throwback," he chuckle breathlessly then reconnected your lips.

He pulled you off from the wall, carrying you to your bed, then throwing you down with himself on top of you. Your lips never detached from each other. Your hand found its way down to his erection which you began to palm immediately, he moaned into the kiss.

"Just take them off." He growled, standing himself back up to take his shirt off while you took it upon yourself to rid him of his pants and boxers.

As his erection sprung from the fabric, you were hit with a sudden sense of déjà vu. You spun him around, pinning him to the bed this time. You laughed to yourself while trailing kisses from the top of his chest towards his member. Just like the last times, even if Jean had started off as the dominant one, he'd be the first one undressed and end up under you.

He moaned at each touch of your lips against his skin. You giggled, as he instinctively proped himself up on his elbows to watch you work your way down.

"Are you laughing at me?" He asked softly as he watched you.

"Maybe." You replied teasingly bringing your lips down to the tip of his cock, without a moments hesitation you took in his full length.

A pleasant moan escaped his lips, "I forgot you could do that."

He threw his head back and his legs squirmed underneath you, while you slowly grazed your teeth up to the top once again. Every muscle flexed and twitched at your movements, as if his body was burning under your touch.

"This isn't fair." Jean managed to say. "You can't just play with me like putty in your hands."

You crawled back up his chest cocking your head to the side, feigning confusion.

"Oh you know what I mean," he looked at your fully clothed body. "Strip."

You obeyed his wishes, and stripped yourself bare of your clothing, while Jean placed a condom over himself. He instructed you to lay down and he placed himself above you. He positioned himself inside you and kisses your lips passionately. You both knew each others bodies so well, as if the time between the last and now had only been a moment in time and not as long as it really was. The pace quickened as the kiss became more heated. It continued like that until the heat in your stomach was so strong, you couldn't help but feel the need to release. In that moment the two of you let yourselves go.

You both stayed like that for awhile, him still inside of you, basking in each other's presence. A feeling of familiarity overwhelmed the two of you. He then pulled out and rolled himself to his side pulling you into his strong chest. It seemed so surreal as if the two of you were back at square one. All you could feel was a kind of bliss that you had missed for so long. You almost wished the night would never end, and that you could stay within the four walls of your room with him forever.

On the other side of the wall, Eren laid down in his own bed listening attentively to what was going on on your side. At first he was intrigued, but a few moans later he was actually annoyed. He was still a little curious, wondering who the guy in the room with you was and especially what it was you were doing for the guy to be such a moaning mess. But only a little curious.

He'd only really heard you once, and that was just now. It was a gorgeous moan, that even excited Eren from the other side of the wall, but it also annoyed him further. It meant that you enjoyed the sex, and if you enjoyed it, then there'd be another round within the next while. If that one was good, then there'd be another. The cycle would just go on, until they'd both fall asleep still absorbed in each other. Which only meant one thing, Eren wasn't getting any sleep tonight.

"Have the walls always been this thin." He mumbled to himself, turning to his side to avoid facing the said wall that separated the two rooms.


	3. One Night Stand Breakfast

Somehow Eren had managed to fall asleep. He wasn't sure exactly how many rounds of sex he listened to last night, but he was glad it was finally over. A new day shone through his blinds as he got himself out from his bed pulling on a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie.

He could smell something cooking in the kitchen. Which could only mean one thing, you had had such great sex last night that you woke up in such a great mood that you made him breakfast as an apology for keeping him up all night. He was weirdly excited to see you with that day after sex glow. He wanted to tease you about it, but importantly he wanted to eat whatever it was that was cooking outside his room.

Upon exiting, he was surprised to not see you anywhere in sight, instead his eyes fell upon that guy you always hung out with. Eren couldn't place his name, but god did he find that guys face annoying.

"Who the crap are you?" Eren asked with furrowed brows.

The guy turned around slightly startled by Eren's entrance. "I'm Jean, Y/N's friend, I stayed the night, last night." He rubbed at the back of his reddened neck awkwardly.

Eren suddenly put two and two together. So this Jean was the one who had caused such a ruckus in Y/N's room last night, and now he was making breakfast?

"You know, you're supposed to leave after a one night stand, not make the girl breakfast right?" Eren said sitting himself down on a nearby stool.

Jean's ears turned bright red, matching along with his neck.

"Who said anything about it only being one night?" Jean questioned, turning himself away from Eren. "Who are you to say anything anyways?"

"I'm Eren, Y/N's roommate." He crossed his arms and smirked. "So I know her pretty well, that was definitely a one night thing I heard last night."

Jean scoffed, deciding from then on he'd block Eren out while he finished with his cooking. Eren couldn't handle the silent treatment for long and tried his best to pester something out of Jean. All his efforts seemed futile though, as the other kept his silence and continued cooking away. Before he could pester further, you walked out from your room.

You were clad in a oversized white tee, and Eren assumed, only panties underneath. You looked tired and confused, not fully awake yet, but still incredibly attractive. He watched you make your way into the kitchen trying to read into your thoughts, but obviously that was impossible. All he could do was lean back in the stool and eye you.

"Well look who's awake." You turned around startled by Eren's sudden booming voice. "You put on quite the auditory performance last night."

Your face turned crimson, but you quickly shook it off and continued to make your way towards Jean. You wrapped your arms around his waist, sending a smirk and a raised eyebrow Eren's way, he responded by crossing his arms around his chest and an eye roll.

"I thought you left already." You cooed into Jean's back.

"I thought I should stay and make breakfast, as a reward for helping me study last night." Jean replied giving a little squeeze to one of your hands that hugged his chest.

Eren snickered. "That was studying. What course? Anatomy and physiology?"

"Maybe," Jean chuckled while placing pancakes on a plate and setting it on the counter. "Here you go Y/N."

You sat down in front of the plate of pancakes, but before you could even dig in Eren pulled the plate away from you.

"No, this is not how it works." Eren said frustratedly. "You don't make her pancakes in the morning, you leave before she even wakes up. You guys are betraying the one night stand gods. I would know, I'm the patron saint of them."

"Why can't Jean stay?" You questioned reaching back for your plate of pancakes. "He's my friend."

"You fucked your friend, you're more wild than I thought Y/N." Eren said leaning back again, letting you reclaim the pancakes.

Jean placed another plate of pancakes on the counter, but before Eren could reach for it, Jean stopped him.

"What about me?" Eren whined.

"Did I have sex with you last night?" Jean questioned shoving a slice of pancake in his mouth.

"No?" Eren replied, utterly confused he obviously didn't have sex with him last night, so the question was invalid and just plain stupid to ask in his opinion.

"Then why would I make you breakfast." Jean said flatly, glaring back at Eren.

The breakfast continued in silence. Once finished, Jean took it upon himself to clean up his mess. You watched Jean work diligently, while Eren couldn't keep his eyes off of you.

He'd looked at you before, but it was different this time maybe because of that after sex glow he had imagined earlier. There was something he couldn't quite put his fingers on, but he was entranced by you and your every movement.

He'd seen your legs before but he's never really seen that much of your legs, and he liked it. He continued to keep watch on you, as you bid Jean goodbye by planting a kiss on his cheek. Making Eren cringe. His eyes followed you until you drifted off into your room, and once you were out of his sight he let out a breath he hadn't known he was keeping in.

* * *

Once inside your room, you did a little hurrah with your arms and grabbed your cell phone to call Sasha.

The line rang twice before it was picked up, and you were met with Sasha's tired "Hello".

"It worked." You greeted her back.

Sasha let out a screech, you only assumed she was jumping up and down on her bed. "How do you know?"

"He was a little aggravated this morning, and I noticed some panda eyes too. Not sure if last night will make him think twice about bringing home vocal girls, but I'm just glad I got him a little pissy." You laughed.

"Yes!" Sasha shouted. "Anyways, hormonal roommates aside, how was Jean?"

"Oh he's fine," you replied, "he just left actually."

Sasha sighed, "no, how was he? Like in bed, gosh y/n."

"He was good." You faltered slightly with your words.

"Ouhh, so I'm guessing there'll be lots of sexual tension between you two at tonight's get together." Sasha snickered into her phone.

You had totally forgot about Connie's party tonight, you were planning on sort of avoiding Jean for a few days. Just to make sure all attachment you rekindled last night, would dissipate with your distance from each other. "Shit." Was all you managed to say.

"Now I'm excited." Sasha squeaked. "Wow, this brings me back to first year, when you and Jean thought you were being all secretive having sex all the time."

"Wait, what?" You freaked out suddenly. "You knew?"

"Y/N, you guys are so obvious, you would both leave at the same time and then come back at the same time, but sweaty and out of breath." You already knew just by the way Sasha spoke that she was giving off that trade mark smile of hers.

You groaned throwing yourself back on your bed.

"And don't you dare think you can just skip out on this Connie's tonight, I will escort you there myself if I have to." Sasha commanded before hitting end on the call, leaving you with just the sound of your head buzzing.


	4. Depends on the ride

You stayed in your room for the rest of the morning, mentally stressing out about tonight. It seemed like Eren had the same idea, as he'd normally be out of the apartment by now, but you could still hear him walking around every now and then inside you shared space.

By noontime, you began searching your room for something to wear tonight. Your thoughts then drifted away, as you heard a knock on your door. You opened it to Eren casually leaning against the frame. His dark messy brown hair fell in to his bright eyes.

"I really should stay back more often," he gave you a sly smirk. "Especially, if that's how you dress all the time."

You silently cursed yourself for forgetting that you were still wearing the minimal amount of clothing you had on at breakfast. You rolled your eyes at him crossing your arms around your chest, "what do you want?"

"I ordered pizza, wanna go half on it?" He asked looking down at you, no matter what with his height he had to look down at you, but this time you were pretty sure he wasn't looking down to look at your face but rather to see your bare legs.

"Sure." You replied turning around towards your wallet and passing him a ten dollar bill.

"Even if you look superb right now, unless you feel like attempting to get this pizza for free, you should get dressed before the pizza guy comes." Now you were certain he was staring at your legs.

"Oh shut up." You went to shut your door, but Eren stopped you with his foot.

"Look you've got me intrigued now, I want to know what you did to make a guy act that wiped for you." He leaned in. "Just remember, you've heard what I can do to a girl, so if you ever feel lonely I'm just a few steps away."

He pulled his foot away from the door, and you slammed it back in his face. You leaned back against the door and sighed, for a split second you were about to agree with him. He was attractive, and fuck you were curious already about him in the bedroom, but there was this taboo in your mind about sleeping with your roommate and you weren't in the mood for messing around with that. You've already crossed enough lines when it came to you and Jean.

"Fuck you, Eren." You sighed under your breath as you went to throw on some clothes. Opting for something much less showy, you decided on your grey sweat pants and an old band tee.

Not long after the pizza arrived, and both you and Eren sat on the couch and basked in the wonders of delivery pizza. You pretended that your roommate hadn't just offered you sex minutes ago, and ate your pizza in silence.

"Are you going to Connies tonight?" Eren broke the silence, you hummed back nodding your head as your mouth was full.

"Do you need a ride up or back?" He asked, "I have a DD already planned, we've got space for one one more."

You shook your head no, "I'm going up with Sasha."

"Alright, just remember my offer still stands, if you need anything." He stood up and walked his way to his room. "I'll see you tonight."

You just nodded, slightly unsure of what offer he was referring to. It had to be the one he was offering to drive you there and back, but then again he had said it quite ambiguously. Either way, you weren't planning on taking either offers tonight. No matter how enticing it could be.


	5. To alcohol and everything it leads you to

Sasha shot in to your apartment the moment you opened the door for her. She seemed ecstatic, as she literally tore through your closet finding something for you to wear. She herself was wearing black dress with a jean jacket. For you she chose a pair of high waisted jeans and a black crop top.

"Leave your hair a bit messy." She said referring to your bed head curls. "It adds to the sex appeal."

You rolled your eyes as she laughed.

"Let's just get going." You suggested.

The party was in a pre party state, as everyone drifted between the living room and kitchen of the host's town house. Sasha tugged you around filling up two red solos with beer from the keg. She passed you the second and made a gesture to do cheers. The two cups tapped making the liquid inside slosh around the cup.

"To alcohol." She said before bringing it to her lips and almost downing it in one shot.

You hummed back as it burned down your throat.

Your night continued on like that, bouncing back and forth between the kitchen and living room to fill yourself up with alcohol. Music began playing and as the beat became louder, you became more drunk. A dance floor was made in the middle of the room, Sasha pulled you to the dance floor with her. Next thing you knew she went off on her own following the host who had just brought in ten boxes of delivery pizza, and you were left alone. Not that you minded much, you were buzzing off of your own high from all of the alcohol that you barely noticed her absence.

Not long later, two hands held you by your sides, as the owner of the hands pressed himself into your rear. You tried to take a peek behind you, but the room was too dark and the person behind you too tall for you to figure out who he was. You both stayed like that for a few songs, grinding up against each other until he turned you around to kiss you. It all went so fast that you forgot to see who he was.

His lips moved in with yours heatedly. You pulled him in closer, erasing the distance between you. You could feel him hardening at your touch. You kept closed your eyes as he trailed kisses down your neck.

Once he pulled away, you got a good look at his face. It took you awhile to realize who he was, when he pulled you close against him to whisper in your ear.

"My offer is still up for grabs." Eren said as he quickly squeezed your ass causing you to gasp into his shoulder.

He let go and walked away from you, leaving your drunk self baffled. You were really wanting to take up that offer now, but you shook yourself out of it, as you watched a girl throw herself at him and begin to grind on him where you used to be only moments before. You could care less, it's not like the kiss really meant anything you thought. You didn't want to go down that route anyways, you wanted to stick to your earlier resolve and ignore his offer once more.

You felt wobbly, but managed to make your way towards the kitchen grabbing yourself something else to drink. You needed something to wash that kiss away from you. As you filled yourself a glass of punch that sat on the counter top, your eyes met with Jean's. It was the first time you'd seen him at the party, it was actually the first time you'd seen him since he'd left your house this morning.

"Hey Y/N." He stood awkwardly in front of you, shifting his weight on both feet.

"Have you been avoiding me?" You asked, taking a big sip from your drink and immediately grimacing at the bitter taste of Sour Puss, fruit juice and other mixed drinks that met your tongue.

He laughed giving you a squinty eyed smile and waving his hands back at you, "no, I uhh just got here." His ears and the back of his neck went red in embarrassment.

"I'm just joking." You laughed downing the rest of your drink, you needed this in hopes that it would make you forget what you'd done together just twenty-four hours prior.

You walked towards him to give a hug, but instead you stumbled in to his arms. You laughed drunkenly at his expression of concern and waved his arms away.

"I'm fine, just a little tipsy." You reasured him pulling yourself out from his reach.

You walked out from the kitchen, Jean following close behind, until you found a group of friends of yours. You joined in the conversation, but kept somewhat to yourself and more so listened to the conversation rather than conversing yourself.

Your head buzzed from the alcohol and you kept wobbling under your feet which lead you to continuously fall into Jean's chest. He'd steady you and ask if you were okay. That cycle went on for the next while. Not too long later Eren and the girl from before seemed to have joined your group in conversation.

Your eyes zoned in on Eren as if he were the only one in the room. You analyzed his hands, his arms, his chest and then found yourself intently staring at his lips. You slowly closed your eyes and bit the inside of your cheek, your thoughts only thinking of your lips pressed against his and the warmth of his body engulfing yours.

Jean tapped on your shoulder, bringing your attention back his way, as he told you that he was going to get you water. You were able to keep steady for the most part in his absence, but it didn't last long as your legs began to feel numb again.

The next time you stumbled on your feet, Eren reached out to catch you. His hands were placed firmly on your hips while yours were lightly place over his chest. His teal eyes looked back at you worriedly.

"Y/N, I think I should take you back home." He kept scanning over you as if he were looking for an injury. "You've been drinking a lot."

When you shook your head no, he let go of your waist. You slid further into his chest now and he placed his hands back over your hips and gave you a raised eyebrow. Your hands tightly griped at the colar of his shirt afraid that he'd let go of you again.

"Just let me take you back?" He asked quietly whispering to you, but it felt more like a command no matter how soothing his voice felt in your ears.

You just stared back at him wide eyed. The heat from his hands spread over your sides and you had this overwhelming feeling that you should reach out and kiss him. You weren't sure if it was just the alcohol in your system, but you had such a sudden strong urge to meet your lips with his. He must have noticed, because he himself leaned his head down closer to yours. It was all automatic, the way your feet pulled up under you to stand on you tiptoes, to you gripping at his shirt tighter as leverage to pull yourself closer to him.

Your lips inched closer together separating your distance into extinction. His warm hands slid up your waist making contact with your bare skin, you wanted his warmth to spread all over you but he didn't move his hands any further. Nonetheless, your body was already warm from the alcohol, but you could only feel that in your chest and you wanted to feel his hands everywhere. Your lips moved in an incredible synchronization together, but before you could open your mouth to let him in further, he pulled away.

He gave you a smirk, "let's go home."

Before you could answer anything, you were pulled away from Eren.

"God Y/N, I only left you for a minute." You heard Jean say, he must have been the one to pull you from Eren's arms. "Here drink this, you need to sober up a bit before we leave."

Jean passed you the cup of water, you sent him a quick nod in thank you and drank the cup empty. Letting the cold water wash away all the warmth you had just accumulated from Eren's touch. The cold water brought you back to reality as you began to realize what the hell you just did.

"What do you mean we?" Eren looked back at Jean, his eyebrow raised and arms crossed over his chest.

"I'm taking Y/N back to her place." Jean said pulling his arm around your waist.

"I live with Y/N, shouldn't I take her home?" Eren said staring directly at Jean, they both looked ready to fight in your eyes.

"I don't trust you." Jean replied pulling his arm tighter around your waist.

Eren scoffed looking off to the side then turning his intense stare back towards Jean's arm around your waist. "Shouldn't I say the same thing horse face?"

Suddenly, the girl from earlier brought her arms around Eren's sides and begun cooing into his ears. He looked down at her incredibly annoyed by her clinginess and tried to pull her off, but she stayed attached to him like a sucker fish on a glass fish tank.

"You look busy right now, let's continue this another day." Jean turned you around carefully and walked you away.

You tried to your head around to mouth an apology to Eren, but Jean stopped you with his free hand.

"Don't encourage him." Even though his hands were normally gentle on you, they seemed rough as he firmly held onto your chin preventing you from turning it around.

The walk out of the house was silent. Jean had let go of your chin, but he still held his other arm protectively around your waist. Your body didn't wobble as much as it begun to sober up, but your head was still fuzzy. Once outside, Jean hailed a cab in miraculous timing. He placed you inside the car gently and sat close beside you, allowing you to lay your head against his arm. The cab ride itself was short, but for you it felt like hours.

* * *

Almost like magic, you apparated in your apartment. Jean lead you towards your room where he sat you down on your bed. You giggled watching him rummage through your drawers, he threw a pair of pyjama shorts and a comfortable sweater your way.

"Put these on." He said turning his back to you.

You giggled again at how he turned himself away from you, but obeyed and changed into what he gave you.

"Done." You clapped your hands giving him a wide grin as he turned around.

He pulled the comforter and sheets back on the bed, and motioned for you to lay down. He tucked you into the blankets carefully, like a mother tending to a sick child. He left the room for a moment and then returned with a glass of water, which he placed on the night stand beside you.

"All good?" He asked sitting down on the edge of your bed.

You nodded and then adjusted yourself in the bed so that you were laying closer to him. Your hand trailed up his back, drawing invisible circles around him. He shivered under your touch as you brought your hand under his shirt, continuing to draw circles up his back. His eyes looked back at you questioningly as you asked him to remove his shirt.

"Y/N, I know it's just the alcohol talking." He replied rubbing his hands on the thighs of his jeans. "Sleep it off, and see how you feel in the morning."

"But, I want you now." You whined, deciding you'd take matters into your own hands and removed his shirt for him, your hands then reached for his belt buckle.

He gently stopped your hands and helped you lay back down on the bed. He hovered over you slightly and pushed loose strands of hair away from your face. His body leaned in closer to you as he placed a small kiss on your forehead.

"We can't do something like this when you're drunk and out of your mind." His hand still caressed you face. "I'd rather you make it a sober decision. I'll be just outside your room if you need me, okay?"

He stood himself up to leave, your hand shot out to stop him as your eyes looked up at him pleadingly, "please stay."

He let out a sigh. His body wanted to stay, but deep down he knew in his head that if he did it would lead to something bad for him. It would lead to him catching feelings. Something he had been trying to avoid for so long, but the way you looked up at him at this moment, he could swear his heart skipped a beat. Without even thinking twice about it, he crawled in beside you on the bed. He watched as your body curled into his bare chest, while your eyes slowly shot closed. He wanted to regret staying with you, but the feeling of your heartbeat against his, told him otherwise.

"I might be falling in love with you Y/N." Jean whispered to himself.


	6. Someones jealous

Eren woke up in a horrible mood next to an unknown girl, in an unknown room. He could tell from from the white painted brick wall and the incredibly small sized room that he was in one of the campus dorms. He also assumed it to be the girl he was sleeping next to's bed, but he couldn't care any less about the actual specifics right now. He sat up, legs hanging off the side of the bed, and ruffled his own hair dark hair. He hadn't drank that much the night before, but he still had lingering headache from whatever it was he drank. His body also ached, but he blamed that on the fact that he had spent the night sharing a twin sized bed with a whole other person.

Upon realisation that he was completly naked, he began his search for his clothing. They were scattered around the room, making it hard for him to find each article of clothing, and especially with his hangover he wasn't exactly being speedy about it either. Which he regretted when the girls eyelids fluttered open.

"Leaving so soon?" She asked, watching him get dressed.

"Yeah." Eren replied turning his back on her as he pulled his shirt over his chest and then his jacket.

He patted down his jacket pockets to make sure his phone and keys were still there, and nodded to himself in satisfaction when he found them. He gave her a cocky grin and a little wave and walked towards the door.

"Don't worry," She called out to him as he opened the door, "I already put my number in your phone, if you ever want to do this again." She patted the spot beside her on the bed giving him a cheeky smile.

As he shut the door behind himself he rolled his eyes, he already had so many girls numbers in his phone, and he didn't even remember this particular ones name. Once stepped out of her room he was able to decipher which residence building he was in from the layout of the girls apartment styled common room. It was West Residence, thankfully it was the residence building he knew best, and therefore didn't stupidly take the end of the hall staircase that led to nowhere and opted for the middle most staircase that led directly towards the buildings external exit. At times like these he was glad he made friends with some of his upperclassmen who lived on residence, otherwise he would have looked like an idiot roaming the halls.

Before he could fully open the stairwell door, a familiar face pushed through.

He was met with intense grey eyes, "The hell did I tell you about fucking around on my floor."

Out of all the floors in this building, it had to be the one Levi Ackerman was the RA on this year. "Fuck, sorry." Eren sighed.

Levi rolled his eyes, "next time just make sure you get a guest bracelet."

"Will do." Eren tensed.

"God, I'm going to have to have another floor meeting about you," Levi cracked his right knuckles, "go before security catches you, I've got shit to do."

Eren ran down the stairs, by the time he reached the ground floor he was rather out of breath. He was just glad this time Levi hadn't dragged him down the steps himself. He made a mental note to remember which floor he had been on, so as to not be caught by the other again.

Luckily this residence wasn't too far from campus, all he had to do was take a brisk 10 minutes walk towards his apartment complex. Albeit feeling grumpy and tired, a warm feeling bubbled in his stomach that he just couldn't quite shake away.

He had a strong urge to be home right now. He wanted to see you, he wanted to know if you were okay, no scratch that, he wanted you to be the one he woke up to this morning, he wanted to spend this hangover of his with you.

He was strangely nervous as he unlocked the apartment room door. His nerves felt unwaranted, he didnt exactly understand why he was so nervous. The appartment was quiet. Eren tossed his jacket on a nearby chair and made his way towards the kitchen. He made himself a tall glass of water leaned up against the counter and drank it all in one go.

"Y/N," He called out placing the glass on the counter, when he received no answer he made his way towards your bedroom door.

He gave it a small knock and whispered your name sweetly. He stood there for awhile in silence, just waiting for you to give some sign of recognition towards him. He was about to knock again, but decided he'd just open the door and check on you. There couldn't be any harm in doing that, you were roommates and he just wanted to make sure you were alright.

He made sure to be quiet as he pushed the door open. He watched his feet making sure they wouldn't step on a creak in the floorboards. As he lifted his eyes up towards your bed, he realized your room was empty. Well not that empty, your belongings were all there, what was missing in particular that made the room empty was you. Eren let out a sigh of relief, relieved that you weren't there to berate him for entering your room without permission, but that relief was soon clouded with worry as he wondered where the crap you could have been.

He turned around and closed the door as if he'd never been in your room. He pulled his phone out of his jacket which he'd thrown on a chair earlier. It was only nine in the morning, so why weren't you home.

He was afraid of the possibilities of where you could be. For all he knew, you could have been cozying it up with that friend of yours back at his place. He didn't like the idea of that, which confused Eren. It's not like he was entitled to you or anything and there had been plenty of times where you didn't come home for awhile. There was no reason for him to be so concerned for you, but for some unknown reason he was.

He sat down on the couch, leaning his head back on the cushion closing his eyes. Maybe if he got some shut eye, he could forget about worrying about you. Well, at least that's what he told himself. He sat on the couch like that most of the day, continuously telling himself he wasn't actually worried.

It wasn't till late evening when you arrived back at the apartment, coat and book bag in hand. The moment you walked in Eren stood up from his seat on the couch and followed your every move as you made your way to the kitchen and poured yourself a glass of water. He looked like he wanted to say something to you but he kept quiet, just staring at you suspiciously. You chugged back the glass of water while giving him a raised eyebrow.

"Did you miss me or something?" You asked placing the cup on the counter and leaning yourself against it, looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Where did you sleep last night?" He questioned, his teal eyes barely made contact with yours.

He looked like a sad puppy, before today you had never seen him like this. His eyes were wide and round, his bottom lip slightly pouted. Throughout all of the years you had ever known him, he was always cool and suave. Maybe once you had seen that look on his face, back when you were kids, but you shook that thought away as soon as it appeared.

"In my room?" You answered giving him a questioning look. "Shouldn't I be the one asking you that? I didn't see you here in the morning."

He suddenly brought his head down in shame, but then brought his head up and looked you square in the eyes. "Look, I just wanted to make sure you were safe."

"Well, I am, as you can see." You crossed your arms above your chest.

"What if your mother called, what would I have told her?" He stared back at you intensely, he was acting like a possessive boyfriend and you didn't even understand why. "Where were you anyways?"

"What are you even bringing my mom up for?" You rolled your eyes, "and if you really need to know, I was on a study date." You shrugged your shoulders, he'd never questioned you about your whereabouts before today.

"A date, with who?" He asked quietly.

"With a friend," you watched Eren tense up. "Wait, is this what all this questioning is about? Jean? Really? Are you all angry because he took me home and not you? That's really pathetic, Eren, you're acting like a teenager."

Eren looked away from you, obviously embarrassed from being found out. "We kissed last night, you and I."

"I'm well aware of that." You scoffed turning your head away from him. "Just because we kissed doesn't mean anything is going to happen between us, we're roommates nothing more."

"That's not what it felt like, Y/N." He replied slowly walking his way towards you, just until he was close enough for you to feel his warm breath on your neck. "We have enough history for it to be deeper than just that."

He was so close to you. His every breath sent a shiver down your spine. If you turned your head to face him, you'd be so close, it'd almost be considered kissing.

"Want me to remind you?" You could already feel the smirk on his lips even though he hadn't touched his lips on your skin yet, but you knew it was there.

Your body wanted you to give in and you were close to doing that, but luckily your morals kicked in. You placed your hands on Eren's chest and quickly pushed him away from you. He stared back at you wide eyed.

"Oh fuck you Eren, go back to whoever it was you slept with last night." You stormed off towards your room.

"Are you jealous that it wasn't you?" He yelled back.

"No, I had my own fun last night." You turned back towards him before slamming your bedroom door.

You threw yourself into your bed angrily, not even bothering to get changed. Not too long later you heard Eren stomp his way into his own room. From that day forward, Eren's antics became worse as he'd bring home a new fuck buddy every night. It was almost as if he's purposefully make sure they were extra loud and to make matters worse he would find every way for you to catch him in the act.

You were foolish to think anything would change between the two of you.


	7. Deprived

It had been a good two weeks since yours and Eren's encounter. Neither of you spoke to the other, making every minor encounter painfully awkward. To add on to your shared deathly silence, once again you were found sleep deprived, wishing you could bleach your eyes with the amount of times you'd walk in to the apartment to see something you shouldn't have. For the past two weeks, you had found yourself walking in on Eren and his partner of the night having sex, in places that they shouldn't have been having sex.

By this point you and the spray disinfectant bottle were best friends.

Before, Eren's sexual escapades were tolerable, you almost wished you could go back to those days, but now it was almost as if he were trying to mock you. As if with every girl he brought back was his way of saying "look at where you could have been", and it made you livid. It was utterly immature of him and it just made you want to serve a cold dish of payback. Obviously, the only reason for this behaviour was because of what you said before you'd slammed the door that day. You had pretty much inferred to Eren that after leaving the party you and Jean had done the deed again, but that was a brazen lie.

Nothing happened between you and Jean that night.

You woke up to a glass of water, two ibuprofen's and a note that said he left early and that breakfast was in the fridge. To be honest, you actually weren't sure if anything happened between you two that night and you were too shy to actually bring that up in conversation with Jean. You thought there was a possibility something could have happened that night, as Jean seemed to be incredibly distant with you ever since. Even when you had met up in class or study groups, his appearances were always curt with you, like he was avoiding something.

Either way you were fed up with Eren's antics. One more sleepless night and you thought you would die from exhaustion. That's why tonight you decided to spend the night at Sasha's house. But yet again, the moment you entered the apartment you saw Eren and some random girl sucking faces on the couch. Your couch. Well, yours and Eren's couch, but nonetheless on your spot of the couch.  
By this point you weren't even phased by it, you'd seen worst the past few days. Seeing him suck faces with some random girl was nothing. Plus, you were so tired that you probably wouldn't have noticed, if it weren't for the girl jumping off of Eren and profusely apologizing to you before quickly leaving the apartment. You just brushed her off and made your way to your room, all the while Eren stared daggers into your back.

You threw some clothes in a bag and changed yourself into something more comfortable. As you walked out of your room, you could feel Eren's eyes still following you.

"Because of you she left." He said bitterly as he watched you toss your bag to the front door before making your way to the kitchen.

You nodded in reply. You weren't exactly sure how you'd reply to that anyways. It's not your fault they decided to suck faces on the couch instead of his room. You heard him jump up from where he was seated to follow you to the kitchen.

"What's with the bag?" He asked nodding his head towards your overnight bag.

"I'm staying somewhere else tonight." You grumbled back reaching your hand towards the fridge door handle.

"Where?" He asked placing his hand against the fridge door preventing you from opening it.

"Far away from that." You replied sluggishly gesturing your head towards the couch, still tugging at the refrigerator door.

"Well, no need to worry about that tonight," he smirked, his face looked so punchable at that moment.

You rolled your eyes letting go of the refrigerator handle to instead grab yourself a banana from the counter, "too bad I already made plans."

"Oh, so now you go to his for sex?" He asked crossing his arms around his chest and leaning himself against the metallic fridge.  
You began to laugh.

"I didn't even mention a name." You sat yourself up on the counter laughing harder than ever pointing the banana on Eren's direction. "You thought I was talking about Jean, I'm going over to Sasha's."

"Well, will he be there?" Eren asked tentatively, not even looking you in the eyes.

"Who knows." You shrugged your shoulder beginning to peel the banana. "What do you care?"

"I don't." He looked down at his feet awkwardly, a silence ensued after and you decided to bite into your banana.  
You continued to eat your banana in peace, until you felt two eyes staring at you intently.

"What?" You nodded your head towards Eren.

"You eat your bananas strange." He replied nonchalantly.

"I do not." You turned your head away from him and continued to eat.

He took a step towards you, "no, you really do eat them strangely," he took another step, "kind of like as if you were giving a blow job or something, you just eat bananas very,” he paused, “seductively."

"Whatever." You rolled your eyes jumping down from the counter, you were done talking to him and just felt like leaving by this point. This was the longest the two of you had had a conversation in a long while and you’d rather not continue to entertain his antics.

Eren cornered you against the counter. Both his hands placed on either side of you. He was pressed up close to you, close enough to feel his breath against your ear.

"Y/N, please stay." He asked quietly placing a small kiss on the side of your neck.

You shivered, your head was full of memories from the party when the two of you had kissed. Most of all his offer that night, his words still ring in your ears. For a moment there you'd probably cave into his arms and let him do his worst, but you couldn't. You wouldn’t. He was immature and being ridiculous. The only reason he wanted you to stay was because his earlier fuck buddy left him hanging and you didn't want to be a second way for him to get off.

You pushed him away from you. He obliged, moving himself a few steps back. He wasn't happy with your non vocalized answer, but he obeyed nonetheless, he was known to be a dick at times, but he wasn't the kind of guy who didn't understand the meaning of the word no.

"I'm sorry, Eren." You pulled your hair back into a ponytail and grabbed your bag. "I'll see you tomorrow or something."

You left the apartment with a strange feeling in your stomach.

After the door shut behind you, Eren slumped back on to the kitchen counter. He knew he fucked up, and at some point he'd have to fix this relationship. He wasn't sure how, he just knew that it had to be done soon before your living arrangements became too hostile. For once he realized that maybe sex wasn't going to be an easy fix to his problems.

* * *

Once at Sasha's apartment the overwhelming feeling in your stomach subsided. You were ready for the rest and relaxation that ensued whenever the two of you planned a night in together. You were both dressed in your pyjamas sprawled out on Sasha's couch, each with a sheet mask and a glass of wine in hand.

For the first time in a long while you felt completely relaxed.

"So," Sasha looked up at you, "are we going to talk about the elephant in the room or..."

She gave you her trademark I know you're keeping something from me look. A look you came to know very well from her. You removed the sheet mask from your face, folded it in half, placed it on your neck and proceeded to gently pat the excess serum from the mask in to your skin. You took a deep breath and positioned yourself comfortably to face Sasha.

"Where do you want me to start?" You asked.

Sasha beamed back at you, "let's start with," she paused for a moment placing a finger to her chin as if the was in deep thought, "with Jean. You left the party with him?"

You rolled your eyes back at her, "he was just being nice, nothing happened."

Sasha raised an eyebrow, "nothing."

"Nothing."

"Well that's boring." She feigned a yawn. "What about the roommate then?"

"I don't know," you replied quietly, "I don't get him."

Sasha placed her glass on the side table, "why are you still living with him?"

You shrugged, to be honest you had no idea why you were still living with Eren. There wasn't any specific reason for you to continue living with him, other than the rent was cheap. Maybe you had just become too comfortable in his presence. Or possibly because he felt like the closest thing to home while living away from your family.

None of this you could really find the words to express your feelings towards him properly, it's not like you and Eren had been that close as kids. You were only acquaintances, neighbours whose mothers had been close friends would sum up the relationship better. Even in High School, you barely acknowledged each other in the halls. You had barely known each other, until you both found out you were accepted to the same university far away from your shared hometown. From then on you were packaged together and sent off to live with one another. To be honest, half the time you couldn’t remember what his major was, and you doubted he knew yours.

You could have moved out ages ago, and yet you never did. You shrugged at Sasha's question, you weren't quite sure how to answer.

Sasha gave you a questioning look, but didn't probe any further. She knew you well enough by this point to know that once you figured it out you would come and tell her and that at this moment here you were still clueless.

Did any of this situation actually make sense? Did it even truly merit your worry?

No matter how much you wished to push all of this behind you, your thoughts on your relationship with Eren always pulled forward, as if it demanded you to claim its importance. You had no idea where you stood with him before this mess, were you friends, acquaintances or strangers?

What was he to you? And who were you to him?

You washed down those thoughts with a glass of wine, in hopes that maybe come tomorrow he would be clear from your mind. Still no matter how hard you tried, as you slept your mind wandered around those thoughts. You woke up the following morning with a pit in your stomach and a splintering headache, none of which helped when you saw the notifications on your phone.

A text from Jean lit the screen, your stomach sank to the floor. As confused as you were about your relationship with Eren, your relationship with Jean might as well be just as confusing.

> **\- Hey, we need to talk. Do you mind meeting me at our spot around 2?**


	8. Back in our spot

Jean sat across from you, neither of you had said anything, other than a greeting, while you both waited for your orders to be ready. The distance between you felt as vast as an ocean, even when the both of you were tucked so closely together in your favorite spot at the café. The last time the two of you had been there was when you decided to call off your little affair, it felt like ages ago.

The puck on the table buzzed, Jean stood up quickly bringing the puck back to the bar side and returned to the table with your coffees. You both sat silent for a moment longer, taking in the first sips of your drinks.

Jean sighed, leaning back in to his chair and closing his eyes briefly before breaking the silence.

“We need to stop doing this.” He sat back up, his sandy hair covered his eyes as he looked down at his lap.

You looked back at him a little stunned, you didn’t expect him to get straight to the point.

“Look, Y/N, I value you- ” he paused before bringing his eyes back up at yours, “our friendship. I shouldn’t have agreed to that stupid plan, knowing our history. I almost could have lost you once, I don’t think I would survive losing this again.”

You nodded in understanding, “I don’t think I would survive losing our friendship too.”

“Exactly,” he replied, “if we don’t clarify the lines between us, it’ll be just like the last time.”

_Last time._

Those words echoed through your mind. What exactly went wrong last time, you thought. It had been months since you truly thought about it. Back then it was just two friends who were comfortable with each other exploring their limits. Last time you drew the line, deciding to end things, but for god’s sake you couldn’t remember why you drew that line to begin with. If it weren't for your own commitment issues things would have been much different that time.

Sure, your friendship seemed to have been straining at the time, mostly because neither of you really knew where you stood. That day you made it abundantly clear you weren’t up for a real relationship, and Jean understood. Or so you thought. You drew that line to prevent from holding him back from forming relationships with other girls who showed interest in him. You knew stringing him along wasn’t right, being that your friendship was much more important to you than anything physical.

Had he been harboring feelings since then?

“Do you like me?” You suddenly blurted out.

Jean quickly turned his head away from you, as a blush slowly crept up on his cheeks, “maybe,” he mumbled.

When he finally made eye contact with you again he had a serious look in his eyes.

“Look, I know you don’t actually want to be in a relationship right now, but if I don’t get this off of my chest now I don’t think I’ll ever be able to properly face you again.” He let out an exasperated sigh before continuing, “I’ve had a crush of sorts on you since we first met, but when things stopped between us I pushed those feelings away. To be honest, I thought I was over you entirely, but when we did that thing two weeks ago it all came back.”

You stared back at him blankly, you didn’t think your hypothesis would actually be right.

“And then with what you pulled after Connie’s party, I just want you to know exactly where I stand.” He finished.

“What happened after Connie’s?” You asked quietly, you cursed yourself for not remembering anything past your kiss with Eren that night.

“You wanted us to sleep with each other again,” his eyes looked sad this time, “you were pretty drunk so you were obviously talking out of your ass, I knew I wasn’t who you wanted that night.”

All you could give as a reply was a pathetic “sorry”. You could tell how much this hurt him, and yet you couldn’t say anything else to console him. You couldn’t reciprocate the feelings, at least not at this moment.

“Anyways, a man can only dream, right?” he gave a nervous chuckle, “I just thought you should know my feelings moving forward in our friendship, I don’t want to pressure you in to feeling the same way, when I know you don’t. God, it feels good to finally get this off my chest.”

“I’m so sorry Jean,” You reached your hands out to his, but he pulled his away from your reach.

“It’s fine Y/N, I’m fine with how things are,” he stood up from his seat, “don’t worry about me, and don’t you dare feel guilty about this. I never told you how I felt and that’s on me, not you.”

Your eyes felt watery now, “are you leaving?”

“Yeah, I think I need some fresh air,” he replied, “I’ll see you around campus, okay.”

Jean leaned down close to you, his right hand caressed your cheek as his thumb brushed a stray tear from your eyes. He pressed his lips to your forehead ever so gently.

“Goodbye, Y/N,” he said as he pulled himself away, a solemn smile on his lips.

“Goodbye, Jean.”

You watched him leave, he hadn’t even touched his coffee.

You sat there for what felt like hours trying to retrace the steps of you and Jean’s relationship. How could you have missed the signs? Were you that self-absorbed you never noticed his feelings for you? For over two years the two of you had been friends and yet you never noticed a thing. How could you even call yourself his friend, when you were never able to notice something so obvious when it came to your relationship.

He told you not to be guilty, but how couldn’t you be. It was eating you up inside, almost to the point of making you feel sick. The one thing you never wanted to do, was exactly what you did to him. You were stringing him along the entire time.

You were so deep in thought, you didn’t even notice as someone sat down in the exact spot Jean had once occupied.

“Hey, you good?” A deep voice brought you back to reality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Take your guess at who the mystery person could be :) I'd love to hear all of your guesses.


	9. Fault lies with the guilty

Levi took a long sip of his americano.

“Anyways, I swear if I see that fucker on our floor again, I’m throwing hands.” He said placing the mug back down on the table.

Hange raised their brow at him, “why do you have a problem with this kid?”

Levi rolled his eyes, “I don’t have a direct problem with him, his face just annoys me.”

Erwin gave a hearty laugh at the expression on Levi’s face and proceeded to nudge him in the side. “Did this kid steal your girl or something?”

“No,” Levi sighed, looking off in to the distance, “I’m just tired of him breaking the girls hearts, at this point I think I’ve consoled all of residence on that idiots behalf.”

“Wait, that Eren?” Hange interjected, “Last month, I think I had to deal with a few girls on my floor fighting over him.”

Erwin pondered for a moment, “shit, I think that’s the same guy who screwed around with my PM last year.”

Levi zoned out of the conversation, as Hange and Erwin exchanged stories about their own encounters with Eren, till his eyes locked on to someone familiar.

He stood up, “I’ll meet up with you two later.”

“Aren’t you going to finish this?” Hange asked, gesturing towards the half empty mug.

He shook his head no and made his way towards the back of the café, sitting down in the empty seat across from you.

_“Hey, you good?”_

You looked up towards the speaker, your eyes meeting with a pair of intense grey ones.

“I’m fine.” You sniffled.

“You sure about that?” Levi asked, his head cocked to the side.

Of all the people to find you like this, it had to be your Statistics tutor. You brought your hands up to you wet cheeks. You didn’t even realize you had been crying till now.

“Here,” Levi passed over a napkin, “it’s okay if you don’t want to tell me.”

“Thank you,” you dabbed the napkin over your tears, “I’ve just got a lot going on right now.”

Levi reached out to pat your shoulder, “if you need a breather this week, we can cancel our tutorial?”

You had only ever met up with Levi a handful of times, in fact your last tutorial session had been the day after Connie’s party. He always seemed so serious. This was the first time you were seeing him in this light. His eyes were full of concern and sincerity. It was different.

“No, no,” You laughed, “I need all the help I can get in stats.”

“Then it’s a date,” he smiled back at you, “by the way, how far is your place from here? It’s getting late.”

You spun around to look out the window of the café. He was right. The sun had already gone down and the café was practically empty. How long had you been sitting there for?

“Shit,” you smacked your hands over your face and let out a groan. “I’m not too far from here, just a few blocks away.”

“Perfect,” Levi stood up, he reached his hand out for you to hold it, “I’ll walk you home.”

You placed your hand in his, for only a moment as he helped you stand up. After collecting your things, you left the café together and headed towards your apartment complex. Levi was quick to make small talk during the walk over. You didn’t expect him to be much of a talker, but then again you didn’t expect him to be so nice to you outside of your tutorial sessions. He was full of surprises.

* * *

Before you knew it, you had already reached your front door.

“Well this is me,” you pulled out your door key, “thank you so much for-”

Suddenly, your front door swung open to a livid Eren.

“Where the fuck have you been?” His eyes stared down at you before shifting them towards Levi, “and why the fuck is he with you?”

A wailing Sasha ran up to you pulling you in to the biggest bear hug, “I was so worried when you didn’t call me after your um,” she paused trying to find the right word to say, “thing.” She then began to ramble on, “I thought something happened to you when you didn’t answer your phone. So I called Eren to see if you were back yet, but he said he hadn’t seen you. And I called Jean but he wasn’t answering his phone too.”

“What?” You pulled yourself out from Sasha’s arms and snatched your cell from your coat pocket.

You had thirty missed calls from Sasha. Four from Eren. Even your mom called.

“YOU CALLED MY MOM!” You shook Sasha’s shoulders.

Sasha gave you a bewildered look, “wasn’t me.”

You looked back up at Eren, who shrugged, “I was worried and rightfully so.”

Eren narrowed his eyes towards Levi.

“Doesn’t mean you can just call my mom.” You yelled at Eren.

“Whatever,” Eren said, his eyes were still staring Levi down as he tightly grabbed hold of your wrist, “so are pretty girls exempt from your guest bracelet rule?” Eren then turned his eyes on you, “is this who you were fucking around with last night?”

“I already told you,” Sasha let out an exasperated sigh, “Y/N was with me last night.”

“Like I believe that,” Eren said, without breaking his eyes away from Levi.

Levi pulled your wrist out from Eren’s grasp, “mind your manners Yeager.” Levi turned his attention towards you, “is he the reason why I found you crying today?”

You shook your head.

Sasha’s eyes widened, a look of realization on her face, “was it,” she paused before whispering the name, “Jean.”

Eren let out a deep sigh, “for fucks sakes,” he stomped back his room slamming his bedroom door in the process.

You looked back at Levi, who was still gently holding your wrist, “I’m so sorry for bringing you in to this.”

He let go of you, “no worries, will you be okay here tonight?” His eyes shifted towards Eren’s room.

“I’ll be fine,” you replied.

“Don’t worry, I’ll stay the night with her.” Sasha piped up as she waved Levi away. “Thank you for bringing her home.”

“Alrighty then,” Levi took a step out the doorway, “I’ll see you Thursday Y/N, it was nice seeing you even under these circumstances.”

“Thank you again Levi,” you smiled back at him, as Sasha proceeded to shut the door.

You slumped in to Sasha’s arms. Tears once again brimming your eyes.

“Tell me everything.”

Back in your room you divulged everything to Sasha. She sat beside you on your bed listening to you attentively, as you divulged everything that happened since you’d left her place. You were thankful to have such a good friend in her. She was someone who knew when to buckle down and get serious when the time came to it. She apologized to you for orchestrating yours and Jeans rekindled affair, but it wasn’t entirely her fault. You knew deep down that Jean’s feelings for you were always going to be there, no matter what happened. You were the one at fault for leading him on.


	10. Now who looks guilty

Sasha walked out from your room, she happened to catch Eren before he headed out of the apartment.

“Hey, uh before you head out can we chat,” Sasha called out to him.

“Be quick, I’m heading to the gym,” he replied gruffly.

“I can’t stay over again tonight, so do you mind just keeping an eye on Y/N for me,” Sasha asked him, “and please be nice to her, she’s still upset about last night.”

Eren snickered, “when am I not nice to her? But sure, whatever.”

Eren jogged his way to the gym, he had too much pent up rage and anger from last night’s events. He knew if he didn’t release this pent up energy somewhere an explosion would ensue. His mind raced the whole way through, why were you with Levi? Why did Jean make you cry? Why couldn’t he just ask you himself?

He pushed those thoughts aside once he arrived at the gym, where he met up with his friend Reiner.

“You look tense man,” Reiner look Eren over an inquisitive look on his face. “Rough night?”

Eren grunted taking down a shot of pre-workout and slamming his locker door shut, “just spot me at the bench press.”

Reiner backed off, he could tell when Eren was having a mood and he knew better to pester him about it.

The rest of the workout went smoothly, Eren’s mood seemed to calm down, that was until the pair came back to the locker room and the same dark look that Eren had when he first came in shadowed his face once more. Reiner followed Eren’s eyeline, noticing his intense stare was directed towards someone who looked somewhat familiar to Reiner, but he couldn’t quite place a name to them. Eren casually handed his water bottle and towel to his friend.

“Isn’t that your roommates friend?” Reiner asked, holding on to Eren’s things.

“You fucking jerk,” Eren’s eyes intensified, before he lunged towards Jean placing his forearm directly over the others chest, “YOU FUCKING MADE HER CRY!”

Jean tried pushing Eren off his chest, although he was the taller one of the two, Eren was much stronger. Reiner looked dumbfounded as he watched his friend pin down the stranger.

“What?” Jean struggled under Eren’s weight.

“Y/N,” Eren growled, “SHE’S FUCKING CRYING, WHAT DID YOU DO?”

“When? What?” Jean gave a look of disbelief, before realization kicked in and his faced was shadowed by a look of guilt as he gave a solemn response, “I told her not to feel guilty.”

Eren pushed harder against Jean, denting the locker behind him in the process, “the fuck you made her cry for.”

“I told her I had feelings for her.” Jean answered quietly.

Eren was quickly pulled back by Reiner, who had finally came out from his shell shock and placed Eren’s things on the bench beside him, as other gym members helped support Jean. Eren pulled himself out from Reiner’s grasp and swiftly landed a punch square in Jean’s face.

“You have no fucking right to have feelings for her,” Eren steamed as he backed out from the locker room to exit the facility.

Reiner chased after Eren, carrying the things he had left behind with him.

“What is wrong with you?” Reiner panted.

“Nothing,” Eren replied, yanking his things from Reiner. “I need to go home.”

Reiner watched as his friend turned away from him and ran off. He’s known Eren for a long time, he’s seen him get in to plenty of scraps before, but Eren’s actions always seemed justified in those scenarios. This was the first time he’d ever seen Eren rush someone while unprovoked. Something was going on with his friend, he just wasn’t sure what.

* * *

Eren stormed back in to the apartment, tossing his things on to the couch before walking over to the kitchen sink and proceeding to splash his face with cold water. He was heated and angry, he thought this would pass, he thought after his workout all that pent up energy would have dissipated. Obviously, the opposite occurred. He leaned over the sink, as the excess water dripped off him. Lifting his white tee he dried his face, dampening the shirt in the process. Looking down at the wet spot on his shirt he decided to strip it off and toss it on the couch with the rest of his discarded belongings.

He was shocked by his actions. There was no direct reason for him to have hit Jean like that, aside from the fact that the guy’s face annoyed him to hell. He just couldn’t imagine why you would ever have a reason to cry over him. If he confessed his feelings, shouldn’t you be happy? And what would you feel guilty about? It made no sense to Eren. You had to have some sort of feelings towards him, Eren thought, why else would you spend so much time with Jean. Why else would you have slept with him? His mind raced as he tried to piece together the puzzle of what was your relationship with Jean, all the more ignoring why he was so concerned by it.

At that moment you stepped out from you room, puffy eyed from the night before. A shirtless Eren stood before you, a dark expressionless look in his eyes.

“We need to talk,” he marched towards you.

“Don’t you dare say some crap about liking me too,” you mumbled under your breath.

“What, no,” Eren shook his head, “I punched your friend.”

You looked back at him with a gobsmacked look on your face, “you did WHAT?”

“I punched Jean, right in the jaw,” Eren began to pace the room in an erratic manner, “look, you don’t tell me shit. So all I know is that, you’ve been crying because of him.”

“Why would you punch him?” you cut him off.

“I don’t know,” Eren stopped pacing the room, “why are you sad if he has feelings for you?”

“Are you an idiot?” You looked back at him in disbelief, “mine and Jean’s issues have nothing to do with you, why would you even get involved. God, why do you even think you have the right to be involved.”

“Because we’re friends,” Eren took a step towards you.

“No,” you lifted your hand to stop him from getting any closer to you, “we’re not friends Eren. We’ve never been friends, we’re just people who live with each other. You don’t have any say about my life or the people I’m involved with, and you certainly don’t have the right to hurt them.”

“We’re more than just people who live with each other,” Eren interjected.

“No,” you shook your head, “I think it’s time we set some boundaries between us, you can't interfere in my life anymore.”

“Fine,” he raised his arms in surrender and walked in to his room, “I won’t bother you.”

You turned back in to your room forgetting why you ever stepped out in the first place.


	11. 'Tis the damn season

Before you knew it, the warm autumn breeze turned to the cool chill of December. Things seemed to return to normal between yourself and Jean, well as normal as they could for now. The bruise on his chin felt like it would never disappear to you. On top of that, knowing his true feelings for you changed your dynamic entirely and made being alone uncomfortably awkward.

Your tutorial sessions with Levi went smoothly for the rest of the semester. He never said a word regarding the events of that night he walked you home. Although, sometimes you’d catch him staring at your wrist with a concerned look on his face, but he’d never bring it up.

As for Eren, the two of you entirely stopped talking, the air within the apartment felt colder then the winter wind outside. Not only were you ignoring each other’s presences, he also stopped inviting over any sexual escapades of his to stay the night, but you amounted that to him buckling down on his studies being that it was finals month.

It was so silent between you two, you didn’t even tell him when you were going home for the holidays and vice versa. It wasn’t till you both had your suitcases stacked at the front door that you realized you were both leaving for you hometowns on the same day. Except you were taking the train and he was driving home in his beat up Honda Civic.

“I didn’t know you were done your exams,” Eren looked over to you, for the first time since that day.

“My last one was yesterday,” you replied while zipping up your winter jacket.

“Shit,” Eren ran his hand through his hair, “if I knew I would have offered to drive you back, there’s still room, it’s just me and Reiner.”

“I already have my train ticket,” you opened the door, tugging your suitcase behind you.

“Let me at least drive you to the station,” he asked, holding the door for you.

You shook your head, “The stations only a block away, I’ll be fine. See you in Marley.”

“Yeah, sure,” Eren sighed, “I’ll see you around town.”

* * *

The train ride felt like it took forever, and yet still you managed to make it home before Eren did, you assumed. Instead of his car parked in their driveway, a tall shaggy bearded blonde haired man leaned against the garage door smoking a cigarette. It was Zeke, Eren’s half-brother.

As you were about to step out from your moms car, he called out your name. Your mom nudged you to go say hi to the neighbor and reassured you she’d bring your luggage in to the house for you.

“Hey Zeke,” you crossed over the snow sprinkled lawn, “how’s the masters in anthropology going?”

He took a long drag from his cigarette, “arduous,” he exclaimed while adjusting his glasses, “I’d rather we talk about my failed baseball career at this point.”

“You mean your failed beer league career.” You laughed, leaning against the garage door beside him, “I think the last time I saw you play, you were so drunk you couldn’t even direct your pitches towards the batter.”

Zeke rolled this throwing arm, “and yet my team still won.” He smirked. “So, what’s new with you? I see Eren didn’t feel like driving you home this year?”

“Miscommunication that’s all,” you sighed, “my exams weren’t too tough this year, although stats was a killer.”

“You should have called me,” Zeke turned to face you, “I’m killer with math.”

You shrugged, “I got set up with a pretty fantastic tutor actually, he helped carry me over the basics, although I might need more help come next semester.”

“Well, I might just be heading out your way sometime in February, let me know if you need a hand then,” he took another drag of the cigarette, then offered it to you.

You shook your head, “you know I don’t smoke.”

He nodded, “and your lungs are better off that way,” he chuckled to himself, “anyways, I called you over here, not to offer you lung cancer, obviously. But, you remember Pieck, right?”

You nodded your head. She was familiar to you, you knew she ran around the same social circle as Zeke's.

Zeke took in a deep breath of the winter air, then stamped out the rest of the cigarette butt on the asphalt, “well, she’s having a small get together on New Years Eve, thought I’d extend the invitation to you, it’ll be fun, no pressure.”

“I’ll think about it,” you replied, “to be honest I was thinking about heading back up to the city to celebrate the New Year.”

“Eh, true,” Zeke nodded in understanding, “this towns pretty stuffy, but either way, I’m sure some of the gang would like to catch up?”

“You do realize I’m not actually friends with your friends, right?” You raised an eyebrow at him.

“Technically,” he said as his eyes fixed on Eren’s car as it backed in to the driveway, “you’re my friend and I think it would be nice to see you there.”

You watched as Eren jumped out from the driver’s side, the hood of his hoodie pulled over his head. He walked towards the front door as if he hadn’t seen the either of you leaned against the garage door.

“Hey shithead,” Zeke yelled out, “help me convince Y/N to come to Pieck’s party on New Years!”

Eren turned around sharply, his teal eyes making direct contact with yours, “I can’t tell her what to do.”

As quickly as he had turned to face you, he turned the other way almost faster.

“Well, I don’t know about you but I think that means you should come,” Zeke laughed following Eren inside the house, “see you around.”

* * *

Christmas passed as soon as it arrived, your original plans of leaving directly for the city after the holiday were halted when all of the trains back were booked solid for the next while. You were stuck in Marley for the New Year’s party, much to Zeke’s delight and Eren’s disregard. You tried to get out of it as best as you could, but to no avail.

Once again you found yourself drunk at a house party moments away from locking lips with a Yeager boy.


	12. Midnight kiss

The basement was lit solely by a strip of LED lights that wrapped around the walls of the space. At the centre of the space laid two couches and some discarded lawn chairs, in the far corner a small bar was set up with its own pair of matching stools. Everyone was there already, Zeke, Eren, Reiner, Pieck, Porco, Bertolt and Annie. You hadn't seen most of them since High School, it felt strange to be face to face with them again. You felt a little out of place, as the rest of the group was dressed in casual wear, while you on the other hand were clad in a skirt and sheer blouse.

Pieck was the first to notice you enter, "you actually came," she exclaimed pulling herself up from Porco's lap, "you know when Zeke told me he invited you I wasn't sure if you'd actually show, anyways, sit down, we were just about to play ride the bus."

The only empty spot was between the two Yeager's, both had seemingly very different reactions to your choosing to sit between them on the couch. While Zeke was warm to your approach, Eren had tensed up the moment you made contact with the couch cushion. Reiner handed you a can of Smirnoff raspberry, and the game began.

Reiner played as dealer, the game itself was simple. Each player was given 4 cards face down, then asked a series of questions per card each time a wrong answer was given the player had to drink.

First card : red or black. _Drink._

Second card : higher or lower. _Drink._

Third card : in between or outside. _Drink._

Fourth card : pick a suit. _Drink._

From there Reiner laid out a pyramid of cards on the floor, he flipped each card one by one and each player frantically tried to match their cards to those of the pyramid. Whoever was left with the most cards on their person would have to ride the bus. As everyone one in the group succesfully matched up their cards, like fate, you were the only with cards left in your hand.

"Shit," you muttered.

"Guess you're riding the bus tonight Y/N," Reiner laughed as he collected the deck from the floor, shuffling them in his hands. "Someone get her a new drink."

Annie quickly stood up making her blonde hair bounce, "I'll make her something," she winked, "something strong."

The only way to get off the proverbial bus would be if you successfully answered the prior series of four questions without getting any of them wrong and without going through the whole deck. Each wrong answer meant you'd have to take a drink and the questions would restart from the begining.

You answered wrong each time, and as the deck of cards dwindled down you knew you were doomed. It didn't even matter when Reiner flipped the last card, you had already lost by that point. It was a game of luck and you never seemed to have any.

"And now you chug," Annie handed you over her concoction.

You brought the cup to your lips, and as the group chanted for you to chug the drink you drank it down in one go. You were officially tipsy.

The game continued on for a few more rounds. Bertolt was next to ride, then Porco and followed by Zeke. By the fifth round you could barely pay attention as all the alcohol had made its way to your head. Your cheeks felt numb and your toes tingled, but the night was still young. By the time the game had fizzled out it was an hour till midnight.

You felt out of place as the group began to chat amongst each other. You felt uncomfortable, or maybe it was all the drinks in your system, your eyes wandered the room as you dazed in and out from paying attention to the various conversations around you.

You were brought back to reality as Zeke wrapped his arm around both yours and Eren's shoulders, squeezing the three of you all close together. Your head nestled in to the crook of Zeke's shoulder, meanwhile Eren's hand had accidentally found itself gripped to your bare knee.

"Can you believe these two live together?" Zeke threw his head back in laughter, "the way they act around each other you'd think otherwise."

You let out nervous laugh, realizing the conversation was now directed towards you. Eren didn't move his hand.

"Well, considering Eren punched Y/N's friend," Reiner babbled away drunkenly, Eren's hand now sat higher up your thigh, his fingers wrapped around your inner thigh. "I don't think they'd be very comfortable around each other."

As the conversation drifted off on another tangent, Eren's hand stayed put. Reiner said something about wanting to grow out a beard, you weren't sure you couldn't seem to pay attention to the conversation.

 _Maybe he just hadn't noticed_ , you thought. That was till you feel him thumb casually stroke at your upper thigh. You turned to look at him, a mischievous grin on his face. _Nope, he totally noticed._

Suddenly, Pieck jumped up from her seat, "its almost midnight, fuck, outside now, I want to do fireworks."

Eren ran up the stairs with the rest of the crew. You stayed seated stunned at how quickly your thigh felt cold without his touch.

_10..._

"You coming?" Zeke asked you, a quizical look on his face holding out his hand for you to take. 

_9..._

You held his hand as you walked up the stairs and out to the backyard.

_8..._

"Shit, you're gonna freeze out here like that," Zeke slid off his flannel and placed it over your shoulders.

"Oh, thanks," you smiled at him, "but, won't you be cold now?"

He shook his head, lighting himself a cigarette, "I'm never cold."

_7..._

Eren's stood off from the side, his eyes directed to the night sky, with his hands shoved deep in his pants pockets as he rocked back and forth on his heels. You could see Porco and Pieck further off in the distance, scrambling to set up the fireworks display before midnight struck.

_6..._

"Couldn't they have set this up earlier in the day?" Annie grumbled turning towards you and Zeke, "give me a drag."

_5..._

Annie slipped the cigarette out from Zeke's lips and brought it to her own, before running off to Bertolt and Reiner.

_4..._

"Give that back," Zeke chased after her.

_3..._

You were now alone standing beside Eren.

_2..._

His hand gently caressed your face as the two of you leaned in.

_1..._

Fireworks crackled in the sky, breaking you from whatever spell you were under.

You stepped back from his reach. His hand now grasping at air as if he were holding on to a ghost. You turned you face up towards the sky, tugging Zeke's flannel around you tightly as the winter chill shook you.

"Happy New Year, Eren," you spoke.

"Happy New Year, Y/N," he replied softly.

"Wow," your eyes watched as the bright colours popped and fizzed in the sky, "its beautiful."

"It really is," he stared at you with a soft expression on his face. 

Your lips were never destined to make contact that night.

* * *

The next morning you woke in your room, a ragging headach blurred your vision as you checked the notifications on your cell phone.

 **Sasha : happy new YEAR !!! let me know when you're back up**

**Jean : Happy New Year Y/N**

But it was the last text that surprised you.

**Eren : I'm driving back up tomorrow, be ready by noon.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed this chapter !!! Anyways I’m gonna go watch episode 5 now :)))


	13. Sweet night

The car ride was silent for the most part. Both you and Eren barely acknowledged each other, albeit being the only two in the vehicle. Your eyes watched as the small town streets turned to desolate forest of snow covered trees .

"Where are you going?" You asked him, "we should be on the highway by now."

"I'm taking the scenic route," he rolled his eyes.

"You mean you're taking the longer way," you groaned, "you're adding a whole hour to the drive."

He turned his head to look you over, "would you like me to turn around? That should add about another 2 hours."

"Obviously not." You muttered, leaning your head against the passenger side window.

* * *

As the drive continued, the road conditions worsened by a sudden downpour of snow. Eren's car swerved on the now uneven side roads. The sky began to darken as nighttime began to creep in. In the distance you could faintly see a lit up motel sign.

"Pull over," you tapped Eren's shoulder and pointed towards the motel.

He nodded, keeping his eyes fixed to the road as he pulled his car in to the motel parking lot.

Once parked, you stepped out in to the cool night, you opened up the back door and began collecting your essential thing in to your purse. 

"What are you doing?" Eren shouted, stepping out from the car as well.

You placed your belonging in your book bag and faced him, "you can't keep driving in this, we need to spend the night here."

"Oh," he ran his hands through his now snow covered hair, "why'd I think you were going to run off on me."

"Just grab what you need and meet me inside." You slammed the car door shut and made your way inside the motel front doors.

An older woman greeted you a bored expression on her face, she watched as you kicked the snow from your boots, "Its a bad one out the isn't it?" She asked you.

"Yeah," you walked up to the desk, "what's your cheapest two bed room?"

Eren followed inside, the woman's eyes perked up, "looks like all I have right now is one double bed for the night."

"We'll take it," Eren spoke before you could say anything, pulling out his wallet to pay.

The woman smiled sliding the rooms keys across the desk, "room 104, have a good night kiddos."

Inside the room you dauntingly stared at the bed that sat in the centre of the room. 

Sensing your discomfort, Eren quickly spoke up, "I'll sleep on the floor."

"No, it's okay," you sighed, "we can just put a pillow between us."

* * *

Even with the pillow between you two you could still feel the heat from his skin as if he were pressed against you. You felt the dip in the mattress as he shifted around in the bed. You couldn't relax knowing that he was so close to you. 

"Y/N," he whispered.

You hummed back in acknowledgement.

"I can't stop thinking about you," he said quietly.

"Me?" You turned to face him.

You couldn't read his expression in the dark room, "I want you." His arm reached out as his hand went to caress your face, his thumb brushing over your lips ever so gently. You closed your eyes at his touch.

"I'm sorry for being a bad roommate." He spoke again, "can I make it up to you?"

"How?" You asked.

"Like this," he leaned in slowly.

His lips met yours as he slowly brought you in to a deep kiss. There was no longer any space between the two of you.

"Can I keep going?" He asked hesitantly.

You weren't sure why but you agreed. Eren pulled you under him and he trailed his kisses down your neck. With his hands he pulled your shirt over your head exposing your breast. He looked back up at you as if asking for permission to continue, you nodded back at him.

Eren smiled, before diving his head down to your left breast as he fondled the other. You grabbed the fabric of his shirt as he began to suckle your nipple. As much you wouldn't want to admit it, his mouth felt so good against your skin.

His hand snaked down your body, stopping just before it reached between your legs. This time he didn't look up at you for approval, as his index and middle finger drew circles over your clothed skin. You threw your head back and moaned as you wished for his fingers to touch you deeper.

His hand then slipped under your clothes, his fingers going exactly where you needed them as if he could read your mind. As if he knew your exact needs. His lips met again with yours as his fingers slid in and out from you. 

"You feel so good," he jeered, as your hips buckled under his touch. 

Every motion he made felt wonderous to you. You had never wanted someone more than you wanted him in that moment. You wanted every single inch of him, you needed every single bit of him. You pulled the collar of his shirt, bringing him in closer to you.

"God, I wish I had a condom on me," he grunted in to your ear, "but, that's okay, I've got another idea for tonight."

You looked back at him confused as he pulled himself back from you. A sly smile spread across his face, as he pulled your pyjama pants off and placed his thigh between your bare legs. He placed his hands in yours pinning you down to the bed. His thigh began to graze up and down your pussy slowly, and then as he became more fluid in his movements his tempo sped up.

You let out a gasp as his thigh kept tightening the pressure against you. Your back arched and your eyes rolled back, as you were filled with what could only be described as pure pleasure. You could feel yourself exploding against his skin. As you reached your high, Eren slowed down while peppering your body with the softest kisses.

Eren collapsed beside you, as you laid there panting longing for his touch again. 

"We should sleep now," he said.

"What about-"

"Don't worry," he chuckled softly, "this was for you."

He pulled the sheets over you and brought you in close to his chest.

"I just want to hold you," was the last thing you heard him say before you fell asleep in his arms.

* * *

You woke up the next morning still wrapped in Eren's arm.

There was no way to pretend what happened last night happened. You had finally let Eren do his worse to you. You had fully succumbed to his power. You were his now.

The two of you left the motel in a dream, holding hands and whispering sweet nothing in to each others ear. The rest of the drive was pleasant, there was nothing strange or awkward between you too.

But like all sweet dreams, they eventually end. As you both stepped back in the apartment and went your separate ways to your rooms, without saying a word you both seemingly agreed to keep that night a secret between you two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was co-written by a bottle of pinot grigio, but thats mostly because I get very embarrassed while writing smut, anyways I hope you all enjoyed :)
> 
> Thank you so much to everyone that has left kudos and commented on this story, it really makes me so happy :)


	14. Keeping secrets

The semester started off as usual, with a pointless syllabus week that drove you mad with worry as you realized how much of your time this semester would be filed with school work. Both you and Sasha sat on a bench in the atrium, staring down at your agendas in disbelief at how busy the two of you would be in the next coming weeks.

"We've got to go out this weekend before things get crazy," Sasha persisted.

"I don't know," you replied, "I think I just want to have a quiet semester."

You hadn't told Sasha about what happened between yourself and Eren. Honestly, you were too embarrassed to divulge the information to her. Plus, you wanted to keep whatever was stemming between you and him a secret for as long as you could. Not like either of you properly defined what the night meant to each other, for all you knew it could have been a one night thing only.

Sasha looked back at you with her soft puppy dog brown eyes, "please, the grand is supposed to have a really good DJ lineup this Saturday."

"Ugh, maybe," you sighed.

From the corner of your eye, you saw Jean walk down from the atrium steps. You hadn't seen him since before the winter break, your heart felt like it was racing in your chest. He looked handsome from far away, with his eyebrows furrowed as he looked over a book he was holding. His sandy hair had grown out a bit over the break. Sasha must have noticed him as well as she began frantically waving him over.

"Sorry, I didn't see you two," Jean rubbed the back of his neck, adverting his eyes away from yours. "How was your breaks?"

Sasha went on to explain how she went on a bakery tour in her hometown, then went on about how she spent most of New Years Eve in the line of the club and actually missed the countdown all together. You chuckled as she explained her stories, even Jean let out a good laugh.

"And, you Y/N?" Jean finally made eye contact with you, you noticed his bruised jaw had healed.

"Yeah, you haven't told me a thing about your New Years Eve yet!" Sasha said enthusiastically.

"Oh, well, I met up with a few old school friends," you skirted away from the subject.

Before, they could ask you anymore about your over the break endeavours, you found your way out. Directly in your eye line stood Levi, standing in front of an events board stapling up a few posters. You quickly stood up and excused yourself from the group.

"Happy belated birthday," you leaned up against the wall.

He smiled back at you, "thank you."

"What are you putting up?" You cocked your head to the side and pointed your hand towards the posters he was holding.

"Oh this," he looked down at the posters he was holding, "it's for the event at the grand this weekend, it's sponsored by the Residents Life association."

You looked back at him surprised, "oh, I didn't know you were apart of that?"

"Uh yeah," he laughed at your surprise, "I'm actually an RA and I sit on the activities board for Residence Life."

"I didn't expect that from you," you laughed. "You just seem so serious."

Levi looked off in to the distance, "I may not look it, but I'm actually very invested with a lot of on campus activities," he paused for a moment, "especially floor activities."

You laughed at at the serious expression on his face, "so are you going to this event then?"

"Clubs aren't really my scene," he shrugged, "but, yeah I'm going."

"Perfect," you said as you turned back towards your friends, "I'll see you there then."

You ran back over towards Sasha and Jean, "Sorry about that, I just had a quick question for him."

Jean looked back towards Levi, "who's he?"

"That's that guy from that one night, right?" Sasha said excitedly.

"He's just my stats tutor," you brushed it off then quickly diverted the conversation, "anyways, about that thing going on at the Grand this weekend let's do it."

Sasha stood up and squealed linking her arm with yours excitedly. The two of you bid Jean goodbye before going your separate ways.

Once out of your view, Jean made his way towards the events board. His eyes scanning it over till they found the one he was looking for. 

It was the event poster for the Grand, the exact poster he watched that guy put up while talking to you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one is a bit short, with the semester starting back up my times a little bit more divided right now. But thank you all so must for all the support :))
> 
> I think come the next chapter I'll put out a better posting schedule since I don't think I'll be able to post daily updates anymore.


	15. Feelings

Eren was not enthusiastic about this semester, he has no electives, this time round it was solely core program courses. Normally he wouldn't mind, but without his electives he has less of a chance to see his friends who were outside of his program. Not that he had many. Now that he thought of it, Eren had plenty of people he knew, but only a close circle of people he genuinely enjoyed.

He only really had Reiner, Mikasa, Armin and...Y/N.

Even jumped up as he realize he spoke the last name out loud.

"Are you talking to yourself again?" Mikasa asked, not even looking up from her laptop that she was furiously typing on.

"He definitely was," Armin looked up from his book, "anyways, isn't that your roommates name."

Mikasa finally paused her typing, "it is. Eren, didn't you have a crush on her when you were a baby."

"Not when I was a baby," Eren slouched down in his seat crossing his arms and looking away from the pair.

"You slept with her, didn't you." Armin sighed.

”What, no.” Eren’s ear flushed a crimson red and he sunk down further in his seat.

”His ears are red,” Mikasa leaned across and pinched Eren’s left ear for Admin to see, “that means he’s lying.”

Eren scowled, “how do you even know that.”

She shrugged, “remember when I stayed with your parents during my internship,” Eren nodded along, “well, your mom told me all of the secrets of how to deal with you. Red ears equals lying”

Eren curled up in his chair, “fine, we sort of did stuff.”

”Just stuff,” Armin raised a brow, “usually you speak a bit more colourfully when you describe your latest kill.”

Eren squirmed in his seat, his friends were reading him like a book and he was worried about what they’d see once they reached the conclusion.

”Eren, do you have feelings for Y/N?” Mikasa spoke plainly as if she were proposing a question in class.

“I don’t know,” Eren let out an exasperate sigh and closed his eyes, “maybe.”

”You can never get over your first love can you?” Armin looked over at Mikasa, who nodded back to him silently.

”Well, don’t screw this up.” Mikasa went back to typing away at her laptop.

That was it though, Eren thought. Hell he may have already screwed it up ages ago. By being a jerk. By punching your friend. By never being up front with you. By toying around with you. By never talking about that night with you.

It hadn’t been that long since, but, for some reason now he felt like it was too late to ask you anything about it. He couldn’t just subvert your expectations of him on a dime, he knew you had a perceived image of him already. To you he was cocky and an ass, he always acted like that. He had to keep up the charade just for a little longer, until he could figure out where you were in this. He couldn’t let you know how he feels just yet.

Especially, considering he’d never imagine in a million years you’d ever feel remotely the same way. Just this once he might actually have his chance, after countless missed opportunities maybe you’d finally look his way.

Eren was deep in thought when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He looked up quickly, startled to see that of all people it was Jean staring down at him.

"We need to talk," was all Jean said.

Eren gritted his teeth, "look if this is about the locker room incident, I'm sorry I never apologized, I had a lot going on."

Jean shook his head, "I don't care about that right now, just follow me," he looked back at Armin and Mikasa who were stared back at him with intrigue, "I want to talk in private."

"Sure," Eren stood up and followed Jean to an empty hallway on campus.

"Listen," Jean started, he was leant up against the wall his arms crossed over his chest, "I like Y/N, a lot, but you knew that."

Eren rolled his eyes, "yeah, thanks for stating the obvious."

"How do you feel about her?" Jean asked.

"Maybe, I like her too," Eren shrugged.

"So that makes it 3." Jean muttered under his breath.

Eren stared back at him intently, trying to decipher what he heard Jean say.

Jean stood up from his position against the wall and firmly placed his hand on Eren's shoulder.

"Just so you know, she's never liked you as a person and she'll never like you like that." Jean let go of Eren and walked away, leaving him to contemplate every word to that sentence.

Eren walked back to his friends a stunned look on his face. He had screwed up before he could even really begin.


	16. I won't tell if you don't

After a long week of only going over syllabi in class you were exhausted. Mentally and physically. The only thing you could think of when you walked back in to your apartment was drinking a nice hot tea and watching a movie alone in your room. Instead you were met with a practically naked Eren, clad in only a towel that hung loosely around his waist.

He smirked as he saw your flushed face, "I'm going in the shower," he headed towards the bathroom before giving you one last look over, "if you care to join."

You weren't sure what the energy was between you two anymore, but by god did he make your knees weak. You quickly locked the apartment door behind you and scrambled to your room to undress. You didn't know what you were thinking, all you knew was your body was acting on instinct, as you quickly pulled on your robe and made your way to your shared bathroom.

Your heart was beating through your chest as you placed your hand on the unlocked doorknob. You wanted to sike yourself out. You wanted to turn around and pretend you never heard him. Last year you would have never agreed to this, but something changed in you and you knew deep down that if you never got him out of your system, you would regret it for a lifetime.

You opened up the door slowly, your eyes traced his silhouette through the shower curtain. You slipped your robe off and hung it behind the door before sneaking in to the shower in front of Eren.

He smiled back at you, suds still in his hair, "took you long enough."

Eren pulled you in for a long kiss as the shower head rained over you. You clung tight to his back afraid that your feet would slip right under you on the slick floor. He pulled for the kiss and looked at you with such fondness in his eyes, it made your stomach feel like it flipped.

"Sit," you commanded shyly, pointing him towards the indented seat on the shower wall.

He raised his brow at you, but obeyed nonetheless. This was the first time you were seeing him fully undressed, and his body did not disappoint you one bit. His abs glistened under the water droplets .You took a shaky deep breath as you placed your hands on his thighs before kneeling down on the cold shower floor. Once properly adjusted on your knees, you took his length in your hand stroking it gently.

You looked back up at him, your mouth millimetres away from touching the tip, "think of this as returning the favour."

His head leaned back as your tongue swirled around his tip. You teasingly brought him in and out of your mouth, feeling him twitch and tense at each new movement. Eren watched you take him in fully. As much as he loved seeing this new found dominating side to you he couldn't fully let you take control. His hand reached behind your head, tangling his fingers in your hair. He bobbed your head up and down his shaft. Moans escaped his lips as the pressure from inside him forced its way out in to your mouth. As Eren pulled your head back, you let his cock sit on your tongue wet from the saliva from your mouth, his cum and the consequential down pour of water from the shower head. Your eyes looked back at him doe eyed and teary.

"Pretty," he said as both of his hands cupped your face.

He brought you up on his lap, kissing you down your neck to your shoulder, leaving quick love bites in between. 

* * *

Eren wrapped a towel around your naked body, hugging you tightly from behind. He left a sweet kiss on your shoulder where there now sat a bright red hickey.

"This is the last time," you turned your head up to face him.

He looked down at you with his teal eyes, his expression soft, "I won't tell if you don't."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this ones so short, but I promise next chapter will be somewhat hefty and spoiler all three beau's will make an appearance :)))   
> (I think I'll be posting it sometime monday)
> 
> hope you all have a great day, love you all, thank you for all the support <3


	17. Bottle service

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> damn while writing this I realized I haven't been to a club in sooooo long, can't wait till this pandemic is over so I can drink an overpriced double vodka cran.

There was no use in trying to cover up the hickey on your shoulder with makeup, you knew well enough that after an hour in the club it would have sweat away. Instead you opted for a black long sleeved tight dress that reached mid thigh. Once ready you decided to wait for Sasha on the living room couch.

You rested there comfortably till you could feel Eren's presence behind you. He reached down sweeping your hair off you the side, before stretching the collar of your shirt to the side to take a peak at his handy work.

"Pretty," he hummed.

You pressed your thighs tight together as a warm feeling bubbled within you. Something about him calling you pretty caused a chain reaction in your body, maybe because the last time he'd said it you were in a very compromising situation with him. Before you could react properly to his touch, you could hear Sasha excitedly knock at the door. You jumped up quickly to open the door for her.

"Are you excited to party!" Sasha barrelled through your front door.

"Yes," you replied enthusiastically.

"Wait," Sasha paused momentarily, her eyes shifting between you and Eren as she pointed at your face, "why are your cheeks so red?"

Your hands shot up to your face, feeling the heat rise up on them.

Eren chuckled, "I told her something embarrassing, don't worry," he waved Sasha's concern away, "anyways where are you two going?"

"To the Grand." You answered him simply, averting your eyes from his, afraid that if you made direct eye contact that bubbly feeling in your stomach would return.

"There's going to be a whole bunch of neat local DJ's," Sasha began to ramble, "it's going to be so neat, you should totally come with."

"I think I'll pass," Eren smirked, "it's almost 8 dollars a drink there."

Sasha pulled out a Mickey of vodka from her clutch, "which is why I'm pre-ing this bitch!"

She took a big sip and offered some of it to you, you quickly declined, "I don't plan on really drinking tonight."

"That's probably wise, considering how much you drank New Years, you're better of being a little calmer with the drinks tonight." Eren stated.

Sasha gave you a quizzical look as she downed the rest of the vodka. 

"Well then, goodbye," Sasha quickly linked her arm with yours and marched you out the door, "our Uber should be here any minute now."

As you exited the apartment Sasha gave you a questionable look as if she wanted to ask you something, but stopped herself before she could ask.

* * *

By the time you and Sasha arrived at the Grand it was already in full swing. The crowd of university students had already mostly congregated inside, luckily the line wasn't too long, but waiting outside for the bouncer to let you both felt like it took ages with how chilly the January weather felt on your bare skin.

Inside the club was a whole other story, it was warm and cramped. Hundreds of twenty somethings circled around the bar and dance floor. With that many people there, maybe you would need a few drinks in your system. Before you could contemplate getting a drink, Sasha dragged you out to the dance floor. You both danced together within the seats crowd, weaving yourselves away from creepy guys who tried to make moves on you two.

From across the dance floor you could see Levi sitting at one of the booths by the bar. He was sat alone cupping the rim of his glass as he drank. You pulled Sasha along with you to go see him.

"Well, hello there," you slid yourself beside Levi, as Sasha took the seat opposing you two.

"Nice to see you," he gave a half smile.

Sasha's eyes wandered to the huge bottle of alcohol sitting nicely at the centre of the table, "did you get bottle service just for yourself?"

Levi shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose, "no, my friends got it and left me alone."

”Isn’t bottle service expensive?” You asked taking a sip your the glass.

Levi sighed swirling his glass in his hand, “yeah, they're idiots.”

As if summoned, a tall brunette and blond arrived at their booth.

”Look he made friends,” the brown haired one nudged the blond forcefully in the ribs, “told you bottle service makes you meet new people.”

Levi rolled his eyes, “Y/N, Sasha, meet my two idiots.”

The two squeezed in beside Sasha.

”To be fair, I never agreed to the bottle service idea, they did use my credit card though,” the blond laughed, “I’m Erwin.”

”And I’m Hange.” The brunette smiled as they leaned close to you, “so you’re the cute Y/N Levi keeps bringing up.”

”Shut up.” Levi kicked Hange from under the table.

”So you think I’m cute?” You turned to face Levi.

”I’m not answering that tonight,” Levi mumbled before downing his drink in one go and pouring himself a fresh glass of liquor. You weren’t sure but you could swear you saw a faint blush peak on his cheeks as he diverted his eyes away from you.

* * *

Eren sat on the couch scrolling mindlessly on his phone. As he opened up Instagram one of the first things to pop up was a post from Sasha, to be honest he didn’t even know he followed your friend. It was a video that was just posted maybe less than 5 minutes ago.

The video first started with Sasha yelling incomprehensibly, the only words he could properly catch over the pounding beat was ‘bottle service is rad’. The video then panned over to two people Eren didn’t recognize who waved nicely at Sasha’s phone. Then the screen flipped to show you. 

You looked to be deep in conversation with someone who was sitting beside you. Eren couldn’t see at first who it was, till they came fully in frame. 

“Levi.” Eren gritted his teeth, his eyes glued to his phone as he watched the video till the end.

On instinct Eren stood up, grabbed car keys and made his way to the Grand.

Eren looked incredibly out of place inside the Grand, everyone else was dressed semi formal, meanwhile he wore joggers and a navy blue zip up hoodie. He scanned the main area inside, looking for the bottle service tables. Once he figured out which was the right one he marched his way over to your table.

He stood at the end of your table like the grim reaper. At that moment it was only, yourself, Sasha, Erwin and Hange sitting, Levi had just left the table to use the restroom.

”Hello,” he looked only at you, “you’re coming home with me.”

You looked back at him, a dazed expression on your face, “how did you get here?”

”My car,” was all he answered.

Eren continued to stare down at you, that dark expression still clouding his eyes. when he realized you weren’t going to budge, he reached down for your hand intertwining his fingers with yours and proceeded to pull you up from your seat. He was too strong for you to pull away and with your already weakened sense from the alcohol you decided to oblige.

As Eren pulled you away from the table you gave the group a half hearted wave goodbye.

Just as you left, Levi returned to the table.

”Where did Y/N go?” He asked as he sat down.

”I guess she had to go,” Erwin pointed his head towards the exit.

Levi’s eyes narrowed as he looked out, he could just about make out you being pulled by the hand by a tall guy in a hoodie.

Sasha puffed out her cheeks, “Eren came to get her.”

* * *

Jean was covered in sweat by the time he reached the Grand. He wasn’t sure why, but the moment he saw that video Sasha posted he just couldn’t sit by anymore. He knew it was best to give you more time to consider his feelings, like Sasha had suggested to him, but if he didn’t try now he would regret it forever.

But he was too late, as he was just steps away from the club he watched as you and Eren strolled out hand in hand. His eyes followed the two of you as you made your way to Eren’s car that was parked across the street.

”DAMMIT,” Jean turned and punched the brick wall beside him, causing his knuckle to bleed from the impact.

He knew he should have called a cab instead of running over to the club. He was such an idiot for thinking he would have made it in time. Especially, for thinking Eren wouldn’t pull the same stunt.

Jean stayed there for awhile, leaning himself against the cool brick wall as he caught his breath. There was no reason to wait around anymore, you were gone and he was too late. He was lost in thought when he decided walk away from the club.

"Jean?" A voice called out to him.

He whipped his head around turning face to face with Sasha, who looked at him with worry in her eyes.

"What are you doing Downtown in the middle of the night?" She asked.

"Out for a jog," he answered quickly, tucking his bloodied hand behind his back.

Sasha gave him a questioning look, "don't you live a bit far from here to just stumble outside of the Grand?" 

"I guess I just have a lot on my mind, didn't realize where I was going." He shrugged.

"I think somethings going on between Y/N and Eren." Sasha suddenly blurted out. 

"So you see it too." Jean brought his hands up to his face and sighed deeply.

"You're bleeding," Sasha looked back at him with worry, she reached out to comfort him but stopped herself midway, "you shouldn't torture yourself like this, I know how you feel about her but-"

"But what?" Jean scoffed.

"But she's never been the commitment type, and you're projecting your feelings on to her," she yelled at him, "obviously it's not fair, but you need to let her go if you ever want her to come back to you."

"No," Jean shook his head, "I'm not stepping down that easily."

Sasha looked back at him sadly, "then it's all on you when you end up not being the one she picks."

Sasha turned around, leaving Jean out in the cold winter alone.


	18. Jealousy makes for honesty

You leaned your head against the passenger side window, annoyance clear on your face. You couldn't entirely be mad with Eren, you left with him in the end, but still you could have always stood your ground and refused. Although, that would probably have led to either of you making a scene in public.

"This is ridiculous," you sighed.

"You're ridiculous," Eren gripped his steering wheel tightly.

You looked back at him in disbelief, "how am I the ridiculous one? You just dragged me out of a club for no reason."

Eren kept his eyes on the road.

"You keep doing these things for no reason," you sunk back in your seat.

"For no reason?" Eren scoffed, "you think I do this for absolutely no reason, you really think I just wake up thinking about how I can possibly go about ruining your little fun?"

"At this point, yeah I do," you proceeded to jiggle the door handle, "let me out, I can't breathe in here."

"Are you trying to jump out on me?" Eren finally looked over at you.

"If you don't pull over now, I might think about." You sneered back at him, your hand clasped tightly around the handle.

"Fuck, fine." He finally caved and pulled the car in to an empty grocery store parking lot.

Once parked, you stepped out from the car blaming the door shut behind you. Eren stepped out as well, but gave you your space in hopes that you would calm down. He couldn't understand why you would willingly leave with him and be angry with him at the same time.

"Why?" You turned around sharply to face him, "Why did you show up?"

Eren tried to read your expression under the moonlight as he walked closer to you, "because."

"I want an actual answer from you," you leaned up against the passenger door, crossed your arms around your chest and looked up at the night sky, "stop giving me bullshit."

"Because," he paused as he pinned you between him and the car, his hands on either side of you, "I can't stand seeing you with other guys."

You looked back at him, his face was so serious you couldn't help but laugh at him.

"You actually think I'm going to believe that junk," you spoke between laughter, "how many times have you used that line?"

Eren's face remained stone cold, "I'm being honest with you, I showed up because I was jealous it wasn't me."

You stopped laughing, "I'm sorry, did I not get the memo? Are we some sort of imaginary couple now? It was just a one time thing."

"Three." He leaned in closer to you, "four, if you want to count grad."

You turned your head away from him, "it never meant anything."

"Guess you don't remember it the way I do," he sighed pulling himself back from you and walking back to the drivers side of the car. "Just get in before I leave without you."

The rest of the car ride was silent. You couldn't wrap your head around how he could have interpreted that night differently than you. It was a spiteful kiss. It wasn't a real one. It felt like such a long time ago you had almost forgotten all about it.

Eren pulled the car in to his parking space, he hadn't looked at you the entire drive. You decided to break the silence.

"I don't know where your head's at right now, but let me make this clear, we aren't a thing so you don't need to feel jealous," You opened up the car door, "I don't belong to you or anyone, I can make my own decisions about who I want to be around in that way."

You exited the vehicle leaving Eren to himself.

* * *

**Grad Night**

* * *

The four years in high school had flown by faster than Eren could have imagined them. Finally, he had his diploma and he was ready to get the hell out of this town for once. Although he would have to wait out the summer till he could fully move out, but he was one step closer to moving on from it, to a point.

He laid back in the plush grass of his back yard, he thought about going out to one of the many post grad after parties, but decided not to. What was the point in saying a last farewell to a bunch of people he never even spoke to, he'd stay in touch with the ones he cared about.

He stay sprawled out in the lawn staring up at the night sky, till yelling in the backyard next to his broke him out from his daze.

"Why am I only finding out about this now?" A male voice yelled.

"I told you I was looking for a roommate," Eren perked up as he heard your voice, "it's just a coincidence it happened to be a fucking guy, get over it."

"But him?" The male voice yelled again, "Eren Yeager, of all the guys you know you picked that dick."

"What's it matter, our mothers are friends they came up with the idea," You let out an exasperated sigh. "Ive known him since we were kids, don't be ridiculous right now."

"You know what his reputation is like, how can I trust you with him?" Eren jumped up from the grass when he heard that.

"Wow," Eren could hear you scoff, "you think I'm just going to cheat on you the moment I leave town?"

”No, it’s not that,” your boyfriend spoke, “you refuse to move in with me, but you’re fine with living with a guy you barely know.”

”We’re going to schools in completely different cities! You said you’d be fine with the long distance thing, it’s not like I’ve been trying to keep this arrangement a secret from you. I’m not changing my plans because of your sudden fragile sense of masculinity.” You yelled back.

Eren couldn’t sit back and listen now. He felt like it was somewhat his fault, you and your boyfriend were having this fight, if he could ease the tension, that would probably be the best thing he could do for his future living situation. He did the only thing he could think of and hopped over the fence.

”Sorry, for eavesdropping, but you don’t have to worry about me, I don’t know what you’ve heard about me but I’m not the kind of guy you think I am.” Eren stuffed his hands in his pockets and shrugged, “besides I don’t go for taken girls anyways.”

”Thanks, but he won’t need to worry about that anymore,” you glared back at your boyfriend, “we’re over.”

”Oh come on, Y/N,” your now ex-boyfriend tried to plead with you.

You stomped over to Eren, grabbing the collar of his shirt to pull him down in to a kiss. Eren froze, he wasn’t sure what exactly to do. He had known you for years, but this was the first time you had ever done something like this with him. He slowly eased in to the kiss and placed his hands on your waist tentatively.

Before he could fully melt in to you, you pulled yourself away from him and gave a smug look to your ex. 

“Now get the fuck out of my life,” you stared daggers at your ex, “can’t believe I wasted over a year of my life on someone like you.”

Your ex left, but not before throwing a few colourful choice words at you and Eren. You finally let go of Eren’s collar. He could see a few stray tears fall from your eyes but you quickly wiped them away without a second thought.

”Are you okay?” Eren asked quietly, he wanted to comfort you but he wasn’t sure what to do, he had never stood this close to you before. His heart felt like it was about to burst out from his chest and he couldn’t understand why.

”I’ll be fine,” you let out a deep breath and backed away from him, “I was trying to find a reason to end things anyways, so thank you.”

Eren shook his head in disbelief at how casual you spoke, “wait, what?”

”I could never really see things working out in the long run with him,” you made your way towards the back door of your house, “It’s getting late, you should probably head over to Reiner’s party before the keg empties.”

Eren just nodded.

”Also, sorry for kissing you unexpectedly like that,” you opened up the door and waved him goodbye, “have a good night!”

Eren waved back to you, he was confused as to how you could be so nonchalant after a breakup. For a moment he contemplated going to Reiner’s party, as you suggested to him, but he decided not to. He walked back over to his house in a daze till he reached his room and plopped back on his bed.

  
He could still taste your chapstick on his lips and he wondered what it would be like to kiss you again, under different circumstances that is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhh I’m so sorry for leaving you guys hanging for such a long time!!!  
> Thank you all again for all the lovely comments and support :)) I love reading every single one of them


	19. If you aren’t taken

It had almost felt like ages since you’d last seen Levi, instead of just the few short days since that night at the Grand. You were beginning to warm up to how unexpectedly sweet he had become towards you, but ever since that night it felt like his demeanour had changed once more to cold. You were worried that maybe you had said something wrong to him.

Or maybe your sudden disappearance that night had caused his shift?

You didn’t even want to think back on that night, you were still angry with Eren for dragging you out of there. You were glad that for the moment both yours and his schedules seemed to conflict this semester, leading neither of you to accidentally run in to each other inside the appartement. You weren’t ready to see his face just yet. To be honest you weren’t sure that if you saw him you’d want to punch or kiss him, so you were better of trying to stay as far away from Eren as you possibly could. At least until you somewhat figured out what those two conflicting feelings you had for him truly meant.

You bit down hard on the plastic straw between your lips as you tapped your temple with the end of your pen. You were so caught up in your thoughts you completely forgot the task at hand. You were trying your best to figure out what in the hell the solution to the problem in your notes could be, and Levi wasn’t exactly being helpful with you today.

You took a long sip of your drink and then sunk in to your chair, “I’m stumped, I can’t figure it out,” you sighed.

Levi spun the notebook around to take a glance at it himself, “this ones pretty simple, you just have to-“ he paused as his grey eyes made contact with yours, “we should stop for the day.”

Your eyes widened as you looked at him worriedly, “am I that hopeless? Fuck.”

”No, no,” he waved his hands at you, “you were actually half way there, you just didn’t round your decimals the right way,” he pointed at the page, “I just don’t think I should tutor you anymore, Y/N.”

“What does that have to do with my bad rounding?” You gave him a quizzical look, “I think this just proves I need you more than ever, I would have never caught that on my own.”

“I can set you up with another tutor right away,” he assured you quickly.

”But, you’re the best!” You said pointedly.

Levi shrugged, “there’s plenty of other good tutors out there,” he began listing off names of other tutors he knew that covered the same statistics course you were taking.

“Who cares about them, I want you.” You quickly cut him off.

He gave you a faint smile as he rested his head in his palm and looked off to the side, “look I’m going to be honest with you, the only reason I kept you on was because I thought you were attractive.”

”Okay, and I think you’re attractive too, so what?” You retorted.

”Regardless, I have ulterior motives for wanting to be around you.” He turned his eyes back to you, “and considering you’re already in a relationship, it’s not right for me pursue you like this. As much as I don’t care for the guy, I’d rather not be the guy who pines after someone else’s girl. I’ve been on the other side of that before and it’s not fun.”

You gave Levi a funny look, “wait, who do you think I’m dating?”

”I just assumed it was Yeager,” Levi narrowed his eyes on you, “are you not dating him?”

”No, he’s just my roommate,” you laughed, “but, I guess I could see where you’d get that confused, he’s been acting a little out of line lately, but nonetheless I’m single.”

”Oh,” Levi perked up, “so you’re not-“

”Oh god no, I think I’d die before I’d ever romantically involved myself with Eren,” you cut him off before he could ask you any further questions about your relationship with Eren.

“Well, this is awkward,” a faint rose blush appeared on Levi’s cheeks as his eyes diverted from yours. “Just so you know, this wasn’t the way I originally planned on expressing my interest in you.”

You smiled back at him, “if it makes you feel better, that was kind of sweet.”

”Yeah, yeah,” he rolled his eyes at you before taking a sip of his drink.

“No, really, not many guys I know know when to back down or even have the guts to properly clarify their interest, it’s different, I like it.” You reassured him.

”Well then,” Levi reached his hand out to you, “do I have permission to pursue my interest in you?”

You pretended to ponder it for a moment before clasping your hand in to his, “permission granted, but only if you promise to remain my tutor, because I really do need your help.”

”Figured,” Levi’s eyes softened as he squeezed your hand back sweetly before letting go and scrutinizing your note book again, “seriously how did you make it this far without learning how to properly round numbers?”

You shrugged, before pulling your note book back to look over your half finished work. A small bubbly feeling erupted in your belly. You were embarrassed to think that Levi’s confession to wanting to pursue you had given you such a giddy feeling inside. 

Levi was a well needed change from the confusion that was your relationship with Eren, and the awkwardness that was yours with Jean. Things felt easy when you were around him and maybe that was exactly what you needed right now.

You still had a lot to figure out regarding your feelings, but at least with Levi there was no history there for you to strain on. He was unfamiliar territory and for some reason this unfamiliarity gave you comfort. 

“How about a movie at mine this Friday?” Levi asked.

”It’s a date,” you smiled back. 


	20. Dormitory kisses

You had never actually been inside any of the residence buildings on campus let alone seen what any of the dorms looked like. Thankfully, Levi had sent you a very detailed text on how to get to his dorm room. You were still worried that somehow you could have exited on the wrong floor, even though you could clearly see Levi’s name written on the door deck that was tapped to his door.

Maybe it was just your nerves.

Although there was no reason to actually be nervous, you had met up with Levi countless times by this point. But, maybe seeing him outside of the context of studying was what made you nervous? You brushed those thoughts aside as you knocked on his door.

Levi quickly opened the door. He was dressed in a pair of grey sweatpants and a crips white tee shirt. The fringe of his dark hair fell over his grey hairs in a messy manner. You had never seen him look so casual before.

”Sorry if it smells like cleaning product in here,” Levi ran his hand through his hair pushing it out from his eyes, “I was just finishing up a deep clean of my dorm, I opened the window to air it out.”

”That’s okay,” you chuckled as you stepped through the door way.

The dorm was much bigger than you expected. There was a full kitchenette and even a small living room like space inside.

“Is this all your room?” You quickly asked. “I’ve never seen inside any of the dorms before.”

Levi nodded, “yeah, as an RA I get a full appartement style dorm to myself, right here I’ve got my kitchen set up and some entertaining space, and then over here,” he grabbed your hand and led you towards two doors that were off to the side, “I’ve got my washroom, and,” he opened the second door, “this is my bedroom.”

It was a small room, with just enough space to fit in a twin sized bed, a desk and a dresser. His room looked so neat and tidy, you could almost swear the floor was sparkling.

You almost forgot that he was still holding your hand, till his thumb began to stroke small circles on the back of your hand. 

“So, movie?” You asked.

“Yes, yeah,” he let go of your hand, “sit down on the couch, I’ll set everything up.”

You sat down on the couch as you watched Levi shuffle around the room. First, he turned the main lights off, then he turned on a near by lamp. Next he fiddled with the TV, then sat beside you.

Levi pulled his cell out from his pocket and placed it on the coffee table. He placed his arm behind you on the couch cushion as his other arm pointed pointed the remote at the TV. The Netflix logo appeared on the TV screen.

”Anything in particular you wanted to watch?” He asked you.

”I’m good with anything,” you replied.

You both settled in a random movie neither of you had seen before. It seemed interesting but you were more interested in how close Levi was sitting beside you.

About mid way through the film, both you and Levi had seemingly given up on following along with the plot and began to kiss. It was slow and tender at first, he cupped you face tentatively as his soft lips met with yours. 

Before you knew it you were straddled around him and the movie had begun to play the final credits. Levi’s hands gripped at your hips, as yours sat lightly in his shoulders for support. 

He snaked his one hand up your back and pulled down the shoulder to your shirt, as he slowly trailed kisses down your neck. Once at your collar bone he suddenly stopped.

”What’s this?” He raised his eyebrow at you as he ran his index finger slowly over the small red spot over your shoulder.

You looked back at him wide eyed as you quickly brought your hand up to cover your shoulder. You thought the hickey Eren had left on you from the other week had healed by now. 

Levi brushed your hands away as he leaned his head back in to your shoulder, “it’s okay,” he pecked your skin, “just means I need to leave a better one.” 

Both his hands held tightly to your forearms as he placed his warm mouth over the previously healing welt. His tongue slowly grazed over the spot before he sucked in at your skin. You could feel his teeth slowly pinch in to your skin as he sucked harder, you squirmed under his touch. After 30 seconds, he pulled back and hummed as he looked down at the mark he left on you.

You could hear a phone vibrate on the coffee table behind you.

You turned your head over to see whose phone it was, but before you could fully turn over Levi pulled you in for another kiss.

It vibrated again.

”Just ignore it,” he breathed in to the kiss.

Again.

You pulled back slightly, “are you sure?”

And again.

Levi sighed before reaching out to grab his cell, placing his other hand on the small of your back to prevent you from falling. He looked down at his phone with serious look on his face.

”Fuck,” he groaned, “I’m going to have to head out for a bit, I need to cover another RA’s rounds.”

You swung yourself off from him and stood up to readjust your clothes, “that’s fine, I should probably head back home anyways.”

Levi leaned back on the couch and looked up at the ceiling, “you can stay the night, I’ll only be gone 30 minutes.” He looked back at you, “besides it’s too late, the busses have probably stopped running by now.”

”Are you sure?” You looked down at your feet.

”Positive,” Levi stood up and pulled on a forest green hoody that was hanging behind his door, “make yourself at home.”

After Levi left, you plopped yourself back down on the couch. You laid across the couch with your legs hanging over the armrest as you placed your hand over your beating heart. You didn’t expect him to actually invite you to stay the night.

You would have to be careful with this one, he made you feel giddy. Your heart felt like it was beating out of your chest and you were still in the midst of catching your breath in his absence. You snaked your hand over the spot he had marked you, it was tender under the fabric of your shirt. The one Eren had left on you didn’t make you feel like this.

You were so wrapped up in your thoughts you didn’t notice the main door had opened, till an airy voice called out, “Levi, are you up? Your doors unlocked, I’m coming in.”

You quickly sat up in your spot, a small girl with short strawberry blonde hair and round brown eyes looked back at you.

”Well, you’re not Levi,” she gave you an awkward laugh.

“No,” you shook your head, “he had to go out to do the rounds or something.”

You felt like this girl had caught you red handed robbing a bank.

Before either of you could introduce yourselves, Levi walked through the door with his hood up over his head.

”Y/N, since you’re spending the night I grabbed you a visitors band while I was-“ Levi stopped mid tracks when he noticed the other girl. “Petra?”

”Wait,” Petra brought her hands up to her face in surprise, “was tonight your movie night?”

Levi pulled off his hood, “yes, now how many times have I told you not to barge in without messaging me first.”

 _So she does this often_ , you thought to yourself.

Petra shrugged, “the door was unlocked. Anyways, I totally had a something to tell you but now I completely forget.”

”Then send me a text when you remember it,” Levi opened the door and gestured for her to exit.

“Ah come on, I really can’t stay and hang out?” She whined.

”No, now buzz off,” Levi cracked a small smile before tapping Petra behind her head.

Petra gave a defeated sigh as she walked out the door, but not before yelling out an enthusiastic bye your way. As kind as it sounded, you couldn’t help but feel as though it was actually a mocking farewell. You shook that thought away, as Levi shut and locked the door behind her.

”Sorry about that,” he massaged his temple with his hand, “anyways, I grabbed you a visitors bracelet.”

Levi knelt down in front of you and gestured for you to give him your wrist, you obliged. He placed the paper blue wristband over your wrist. On it was inscribed Levi’s name and the date.

”I know it’s annoying, but I can’t exactly bend the rules.” He stood back up.

”No, it’s fine,” you looked up at him, “by the what who was that?”

”Oh, Petra,” he sat down beside you and played with the hand he had just placed the wristband on, “she’s the RA two floors below us, she comes by here every once in a while to vent about her floor to me.”

”Ah okay,” you nodded, you felt like there may have been more to their relationship but you didn’t want to pry. He didn’t question you about the hickey, so you wouldn’t question him about Petra.

”Let’s get you something to sleep in.” He quickly stood up then pulled you up towards him.

He brought you back over towards the bedroom area. He began to rummage through his drawers before he pulled out a large tee shirt.

”I figure this could double as a nightgown?” He held up the shirt, “it’s a frosh event shirt from last year, they always give out these huge shirts, I don’t know why I keep them they look like a dress on me.”

Levi handed it over to, and you made your way to the bathroom to quickly get changed. The shirt hung extremely loose on you. Still feeling a bit shy in Levi's presence, you opted to keep both your panties and your bra on underneath. Your confidence from earlier seemed to have wained, as you stepped out from the bathroom with your arms hugging tightly around your chest.

Levi was sitting on the edge of his bed, he smiled once he saw you in the door way and patted the spot beside him for you to sit down. As you sat down the shirt rode up, revealing the tops of you thighs, you quickly pulled the fabric down to cover yourself up. You were feeling nervous again. All you could think about as you sat beside him was the way his lips felt against you skin.

You pressed your hands over your thighs in an attempt to distract yourself from your own thoughts. His shoulder brushed against yours, and you wondered if he was burning for your touch the same way you were burning for him. You wished you could peer in to his mind, just for a moment, just to know what he could possibly be thinking. He wanted you to spend the night, that was obvious, but to what degree was he wanting to spend with you. Was the kissing from earlier this evening just a fluke? You couldn’t think straight with him sitting so close.

"You look nice in my shirt," he brushed your hair from you shoulder and placed his hand at the nape of your neck.

Your face felt hot and red. Levi turned himself to face you better, and placed his hand other hand on you thigh. His thumb sat over the fabric of the shirt, as his fingers wrapped around the skin of your outer thigh. He leaned in nice and close to you, his nose brushed against your cheek.

“I want to take things slow with you, but you’re just so,” he took in a sharp breath.

”So what?” You asked.

”So pretty,” he hummed as his hand snaked further up your thigh.

 _Pretty_. Now, why did that word make you think of Eren. It was only for a split moment, but your mind flashed the last two times Eren had called you the same thing. You felt guilty for thinking of him while you were Levi, but you couldn’t help it. 

You let yourself fall back on the bed, as Levi guided your head to the pillow while his hand on your thigh scooped your legs in to the bed. Once you were nicely adjusted, Levi slid his hands down your thighs and hooked his fingers around the sides of your panties.

He slowly slid them off from you, folded them up nicely and placed them neatly on his dresser. You propped yourself up to watch him slowly trail kisses from your knee down your thigh. He kept his steely grey eyes on yours as he made his way down.

As he met with your centre, he stopped, "is this okay?" He asked you, his cheeks were flushed pink as his eyes searched your face for confirmation.

You nodded and Levi smiled before his tongue made contact with your skin. He slowly swirled his tongue around your clit, causing you to rock your head back in delight. He may have started with the lightest amount of pressure, but each time a soft moan escaped your lips he would build up the pressure and the speed of his tongue.

You lifted up your hips to fix yourself closer to him. You were so close at this point. Levi was quick to push your hips back down against the bed as he pulled his mouth away. You whimpered at the loss of contact.

"You like that?" He asked in a breathless voice, you nodded your head afraid that if you spoke your voice would be too shaky. "I need you to tell me you like it."

"I like it," you managed to stammer.

You could feel his short breathy laugh against your skin, you assumed he was smirking. This time instead of flicking his tongue over your clit, he sucked down on your clit and slowly introduced two fingers inside of you. You squirmed underneath him as his fingers moved in and out curling upwards to hit your g-spot. You wrapped your hand in his hair pushing him in closer to you.

You never wanted anything more than you wanted him. Even your previous thoughts of Eren couldn't distract you now. Levi was all you could think about. Levi was all you wanted. In this moment it was only Levi. You could feel the pressure in your core release as you fully let yourself succumb to him.

He didn't stop as you reached your climax. He kept going till you were fully spent. Till your legs were twitching, your head has thrown back, till his room only echoed your moans. He teased you till you were complete putty to his touch.

Once done, he pulled himself up and kissed you deeply with his wet mouth. He slipped his hand behind your back to undo your bra, then brought his hand back to your chest to fondle your breast under the cup. 

You tugged at his shirt, and he understood immediately that you wanted him to take it off. He pulled it of in a soft movement, revealing to you his wonderfully toned torso. Uncomfortable with the loosened bra that hovered over your chest, you slid it out from under your shirt and tossed it off to the side.

Levi hovered over you as you traced your hand down his chest and over his abs. He looked down at you with an expression you could only describe as lust and longing. His hand caressed your face as his thumb grazed over your bottom lip. You gave his thumb a small noble as he pushed it between your teeth. He moved his thumb in and out from your mouth as pursed your lips around and began sucking down. A shiver ran down his spine.

He leaned in close to you ear, “let me fuck you,” was all he whispered.

He waited for your confirmation before jumping from the bed. He quickly pulled down his sweats and boxers, grabbed a condom from his desk drawer. Before you knew he was back over top of you, a condom over his length ready to enter you.

Once again he started off slow, but as he found his rythme he upped his pace. His fingers dug in to your waist, and the only sounds that echoed the room was the smacking of your skin and his low grunts.

His eyes were dark as he had a serious look on his face. You watched his body tense at each thrust. He looked so focused as if he was calculating the force of his movements as he went on. You locked your arm over his shoulders, and lifted your hips for him to penetrate you deeper. He rode you out till he was spent. As he slowed down he left you soft kisses over your neck.

After pulling out from you, he stood up from the bed, disposed of the condom and pulled his boxers back on. He sat back down beside you and leaned in to kiss your forehead.

He laid back down beside you, pulling you in to his chest. He stroked your hair comfortingly till you fell asleep in his arms.

* * *

You woke up to the sound of your phone ringing, Levi's arms were loosely wrapped around you, you slipped out from him and reached for your phone. Lit up on your phone was Zeke's name.

You opened the call and sat up on the bed, "why are you calling me?" you answered in a tired voice.

"Finally, you're awake, can't you hear me knocking on your apartment door?" Zeke asked.

"What are you talking about, no ones knocking anywhere." You said mid yawn.

"I'm standing outside your door right now knocking," you could hear a faint knock on the other side of the line.

You suddenly remembered that you weren't home as Levi wrapped his arms around your waist, "who are you talking to?" he asked in a groggy voice.

You shushed him before quickly turning back to your phone, "sorry, I'm not home, call your brother."

"Are you with someone?" Zeke asked suggestively.

"Shut up," you rolled your eyes, "I thought you said you wouldn't be up till mid Feb, it's still January?"

"Something came up, anyways get your ass here and open the door for me."

"No, call Eren," you said.

"I did, he's at work." Zeke replied quickly.

You sighed, "fine, I'll be there in a half hour." You hung up the phone before Zeke could say anything else.

Levi pulled you in tighter, "don't go," he mumbled.

You ran your hand in his hair and looked down at his sleepy face, "I'm sorry, I have to."

He let go of you and rolled on to his back. You leaned over him placing your hands lightly on his bare chest, he reached his own hand up brushing his thumb against your cheek.

”Thank you, for last night,” you said quietly placing a gentle kiss on his lips, before jumping out from the bed to get dressed.

Levi watched you buzz around his dorm getting ready. Normally, he was a horrendous insomniac but for some reason for the first time in forever he slept peacefully. He could only assume it was because you were in his arms.

Once you left, he tried to doze back off to sleep, but it was no use. Without you he felt restless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ones for the Levi simps :)


	21. Seen it

Zeke tapped his foot impatiently as he stood by your front door. He was wearing a long brown trench coat and had a large grey backpacking backpack sitting on the floor next to him. It was an odd combination considering his outfit screamed dark academia, but his backpack screamed backcountry camping.

"Took you long enough." 

You rolled your eyes at him as you unlocked the door, "so are you going to tell me why you're here on a Saturday morning with no notice?"

"I missed you," he smirked as his hand reached out to pinch your cheek.

"Cut the crap," you waved him away, "seriously, you could have at least sent me a text?"

Zeke shrugged as he stepped through the doorway and then plopped himself on the sofa, "I told Eren," he leaned on the armrest and wiggled his brows at you, "but, I guess you were too busy last night for him to update you."

Your cheeks flushed. You suddenly remembered the guest bracelet you had on and quickly ripped it off before tossing it in the trash. Zeke watched your movements suspiciously but didn't press you any further, he knew he'd be able to pry it out of you at a later date.

* * *

With Zeke around you and Eren both feigned being on better terms with each other, that being the two of you ignored and avoided each other at all costs. On top of that, Zeke refused to tell you why he had come up for a visit so much earlier than planned. It wasn't till a full week in to him sleeping on the living room couch that he finally decided to come clean about his sudden appearance.

He sat the two of you down around your kitchen table, with as serious look on his face. You were worried that something was wrong, until he cracked the biggest grin ever.

"Your university might be offering me a research position," Zeke clapped his hands together excitedly, "we're in the courting process right now, but if things go the way I think they will, I might end up moving out this way."

Eren rolled his eyes and stood up, "thought you were going to tell me you were terminally ill or something," he walked to the fridge and pulled out a gatorade.

"Thats amazing, Zeke," you congratulated him, ignoring Eren's remark.

"Anyways, I was thinking of going out fro a little congratulatory dinner," he turned to face Eren, "you can invite Reiner and those two other friends of yours," then he turned back to you, "and, you can invite that short boyfriend of yours." 

"Boyfriend?" You questioned, from the corner of your eye you could see Eren tense up.

Zeke threw his head back in laughter, "I've been sneaking around your campus all week, I saw you," he tapped his fingers on the oak table, "is he the one you were with when I called you the other day?"

Your cheeks burned a hot red. You didn't realize how often, and public, you were at seeking levi out overtime you were on campus.

Zeke smirked, "so it was, anyways I want to meet him," he stood up and ruffled your hair, "can't let you date someone if don't like them."

He walked in to the bathroom, leaving you and Eren alone in the kitchen.

Eren scoffed, "Levi, really?"

You diverted your eyes from him.

"Don't play coy, I saw the wristband in the trash." He placed the bottle on the counter before walking back towards you.

You rolled your eyes at him, "I wasn't trying to hide it."

He leaned in real close to your ear, "did you let him go all the way?"

"What's it matter to you?" You shifted in your seat.

He backed away from you, "it doesn't, you've made that very clear." He walked to the front door, pulling on his jacket and walking out the door.

You were so annoyed with his hot and cold behaviour towards you. You were bottling all this tension and feelings up inside you, if you didn't talk to someone soon you knew you'd burst.

You pulled out you phone and sent text to Sasha, asking if she could meet up with you. She responded immeadiately and the two of you planned to meet up later that day.

It felt like you hadn't seen her in ages, even though you almost saw her everyday in class. Maybe it was just your confused emotions from the past few weeks, but you almost teared up when you pulled her in for a hug. She was surprised at first by how long the hug lingered, but she understood that there had to be a reason for your sudden clinginess to her. You both sat down at the café table, you weren't sure how to start the conversation.

"Somethings going on with you," Sasha broke the silence, "that's why you wanted to talk, right? Something happened between you and Eren over the break?"

You sighed and nodded, you forgot how perceptive she actually was. She knew you too well, she could read you like a book at this point in to your friendship.

"We sort of slept together," you finally spoke.

Sasha's eyes widened, "well, was he good?"

You diverted your eyes away from her, "yes," you shifted in your seat, "but that's beside the point, ever since then he's been acting weird about it with me. It's like he's jealous or something."

"So that's why he showed up at the Grand?" Sasha raised her brow.

You shrugged, "I guess so."

"About that night, he wasn't the only one who showed up unexpectedly," Sasha paused, "I didn't want to tell you this since I noticed how awkward things have been between you and him, but Jean also showed up, I think for the same reason Eren did."

You looked back at her with a shocked expression on your face, you couldn't believe she had kept that from you this whole time.

"I'm sorry for not telling you," Sasha looked down at her lap.

"No, it's okay," you assured her.

"I think he has a feeling somethings going on between you and Eren," she played with her hair, "and something with Levi."

You nodded, "well he's not wrong about either of those," you bit down on your lip.

"Wait, what?" Sasha perked up, "so there is something going on with you and Levi too?"

A small blush peaked on your cheeks, "I think so."

Sasha smiled, "he seems really nice."

You and Sasha spoke back and forth about everything you hadn't told her yet, about your complicated current love life. It was nice to finally fully divulge everything you had been keeping from her. It felt like such a relief. Although, you did feel guilty for only talking about yourself. 

"Enough about me and my stupid problems, has anyone caught your eye?" You asked her.

Sasha smiled to herself, "maybe." She laughed at your intrigued expression, "I met this guy at one of those cooking classes I like to take, we exchanged numbers last week, he's really sweet and he cooks so well."

It was nice to see Sasha interested in someone. Her eyes brightened up as she continued to talk about him. Just hearing her talk about her newfound crush, relaxed you from your own silly problems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo I'm a wreck after yesterdays episode,,, tbh Sasha wasn't going to be in this chapter but I think we all just want to give her a hug after all that :(


	22. Diner party high

You squeezed Levi's hand as you both approached the restaurant. It had taken quite a bit of effort for you to convince him to come along with you. He was hesitant about meeting someone you had known your whole life, especially considering it was someone related to Eren Yeager. On top of that, neither of you had established what exactly your relationship was.

"Are you sure we can't just go back to my place instead of doing this?" He asked you again.

You rolled your eyes at him playfully, "I promised Zeke I'd introduce you to him, if we don't do it now he'll find another way to meet you, he can get a little protective when its comes to other guys in my life."

Levi gave you a sulky look, "are you that close with him?"

"Sort of," you shrugged, "but, I've known him and Eren since we were in diapers."

He raised his brow at you, but didn't question you further.

You gave him a peck on the cheek, "just play nice with them all, okay?"

Once inside the restaurant, Zeke spotted the two of you right away and waved you over to the table. Everyone else was already there, Reiner, Armin, Mikasa and Eren. Zeke stood up right away as you approached the table and pulled you in to a bone crushing hug, causing you to let go of Levi's hand. From the corner of your eye you could see Eren quietly snicker to himself.

You quickly pulled out from Zeke's arms, "what's with the hug, I just saw you this morning?"

"So I can't give my favourite person a hug? Lame." Zeke gave you a playful grin before turning his attention towards Levi, "so, you're the one she's sneaking around with now?"

They both stared each other down, as you made your way to sit down at the table. Although Zeke was taller, Levi's stare was much stronger. You cringed as you realized the two were already sizing each other up. So much for playing nice.

"Levi Ackerman," he stuck out his hand casually for Zeke to shake.

"Zeke Yeager," Zeke winced as he shook Levi's hand, after the shake he massaged his palm, "good grip on you, eh?"

Levi just nodded, taking a seat at the free spot next to you. He slid his hand back in to yours and leaned in to your ear.

"I think, I played pretty nice there," you chuckled as he whispered to you.

You could see Eren tense up from across you, his jaw tightening as he turned his head away from looking at you

"Wait, Ackerman?" Reiner asked, as he looked back and forth between Levi and Mikasa, "are you two related?"

Mikasa looked up from her phone and scowled at Reiner, "I've never seen this man before today."

"You guys could totally be cousins," Reiner continued, ignoring Mikasa.

Levi gave Reiner a sour look, "I think I'd know if I was related to her."

Before Reiner could pester Mikasa and Levi about the possibility of them being distantly related, one of the severs placed a glass of white wine in front of you.

"Yellowtail Moscato," they smiled, you looked back at them a little confused.

"I haven't ordered yet," you laughed awkwardly.

"I ordered it for you," Eren spoke, "that's your favourite wine, right?"

You looked back at Eren to thank him, how would he remember what your favourite wine was? It wasn't like you ever drank with him, it was such a random tidbit of information for him to know about you. The server gave the table a funny look, most likely confused by whatever dynamic was going on here. To be honest, you were a little confused too.

Armin quickly picked the conversation up, properly introducing himself to Levi, unlike Mikasa and Reiner. Finally, the weird tension at the table felt like it had somewhat dissipated, at least for a moment. But, soon enough, the conversation had dwindled to a stale silence once everyone ordered their meals and they arrived, that was till Zeke decided to break the silence.

"Oh, y/n," you took a sip of your wine as he began to go on, "sorry, I didn't let you invite your other friends, Sasha's really nice and all but that other friend of yours, Jean, I just really don't like his face." He looked at Levi as he spoke the last part. "He's always rubbed me the wrong way."

At the mention of Jean's name, Mikasa's eyes seemed to have narrowed down on you. It was the first time she had even looked your way the whole dinner, but as soon as she noticed you notice her she brought her eyes back down to her phone once again. It was a strange reaction for her to have, but you brushed it off.

Reiner gave a hearty laugh, "must be a Yeager thing, Eren tried to beat Jean up last semester." Eren gave Reiner a warning look, but he kept talking, "speaking of which, I totally forgot to tell you this over New Years but I saw your ex over the break y/n!"

"You mean Floch?" Eren asked Reiner.

You felt like you were going to be sick. Why did he have to bring him up? You still felt a little bad about how you broke up with him.

"Yeah, he was asking about you guys," Reiner kept going, "Remember grad night? He was so mad that night for no reason he tried to light my backyard on fire. Shit was crazy."

"I wasn't there," both you and Eren said at the same time.

Reiner scratched the back of his neck, "oh true, I totally forgot, well you both dodged a bullet that night, guy was crazy talking all night."

You quickly downed your glass of wine and stood up. You just wanted to get out of there now.

"I'm just going to get some air," was all you said before leaving the table as fast as you could.

Both, Levi and Eren stood up to follow you out, glaring at each other from across the table. Before, they could even attempt to race each other, Mikasa had already gotten up from her seat and had both your and her jackets in her arms.

"You boys can keep measuring your dicks, I'll go check on her." She smirked.

It didn't take her long to find you in the alley, leaned against the cold brick of the restaurant. You didn't expect her to be the one to follow you out, but you also didn't have any expectations as to who you wished would have followed you. She didn't say anything when she handed you your jacket, instead she leaned herself up against the brick and began digging around her purse till she pulled out a lighter and a small compact.

Inside the compact was small blunt. She placed it between her lips and cupped her hand around it as she lit it up. She took too smooth puffs before handing it over to you.

"Take it, you need to relax," she squeezed your shoulder with her other hand, as she slipped the blunt between your fingers. 

You brought the blunt up to your lips and took your first drag, the smoke burned up in your throat as you held it in before letting out a rapture of heavy coughs as the smoke billowed from your mouth. You couldn't understand how easily Mikasa had done it.

Mikasa laughed, "try again, hun."

You were surprised with how nice she was being with you, you just never thought she liked you. When you first met her she was nice enough to you, you could have actually pictured the two of you becoming close friends, but as time went on she always seemed to keep herself at least an arms length away from you. You weren't sure why but it had always bothered you.

You took another try at the blunt, this timed it passed through you much smoother. You stood there for awhile with her in silence as you both handed the blunt back and forth. You had to admit this was much more relaxing then whatever was going on inside the restaurant.

"Thanks for this,” you handed the blunt back over to her for the last time, “to be honest, I didn’t think you liked me much.”

“I don’t.”

You looked back at her, shocked at how easily she confessed a distaste for you. You felt a little stupid for thinking the two of you had been bonding with each other.

She exhaled a puff of smoke from her pink lips, “I don’t hate you either, if anything I tolerate you.”

You weren’t sure what to respond to that.

Mikasa flicked out the light at the end of the blunt, once it quit burning she placed it back in the same compact she pulled it out from. She dug around her purse for a moment before pulling out a travel sized body spray and a pack of mints. She offered you a mint, then spritzed the vanilla mist at the two of you.

“I’m cold,” was all she said before leading you out from the alley back towards the restaurant.

Once inside, you had a feeling the spray Mikasa used wouldn’t be enough to cover up the smell of weed that now stuck to you. Your suspicion was correct, as once back at the table Eren a scrunched up his nose.

Levi gave you a concerned look, as he leaned in to you, “did you just smoke?”

Before you could answer, Eren began berating Mikasa.

”Are you fucking kidding me?” He turned on her, “Is that why you followed her out, so you could get y/n high off her ass! She’s a fucking lightweight.”

Mikasa shrugged, “she looked tense.”

”Chill, Eren, it’s not like this is my first time, I’ll be fine.” You cut in.

He groaned, “yeah, like an edible in first year is anything in comparison to the shit Mikasa hand rolls. Fucking stupid.”

You leaned yourself up against Levi, wrapping your arms around him, you were slowly starting to feel the high kick in, “I’ll be fine,” you mumbled in to his chest.

Levi rubbed your back, as you pulled him closer to you. He felt so warm and soft, you could fall asleep in his arms right at that moment. He kissed your forehead and you felt like you were melting.

”That’s it,” Eren stood up, “we’re leaving.”

He walked around the table and pulled your arms away from Levi.

”Don’t rush her, I can bring y/n home for you.” Levi wrapped his arm around your waist, keeping you stable on your seat.

”I live with her, I can take her home myself.” Eren said.

You giggled at how ridiculous this must have looked to anyone else who was watching. You felt like the two were playing tug of war with your body.

Zeke then stood up, and untangled the two from you, “don’t worry, Levi, we’ll bring her home safe. It just makes sense that she goes with us, since we’re going to the same apartment anyways.”

”Fine.” Was all Levi muttered.

Eren gave Levi a smug smile, as if he had won some competition against him.

”I’ll pay for everyone’s meals too,” Zeke looked over the group, “it’s the least I can do since we’re cutting this evening a bit short.”

”You sure about that?” Armin piped up, “we can pay for ourselves.”

Reiner glared at Armin, as if to tell him to stop, he wasn't passing up on a free meal.

”Its fine, I’ve got it.” Zee pulled his wallet from his pocket and gave it a little giggle, "I'll meet you all outside."

It was chillier outside now than when you and Mikasa had been out alone. No matter how much you protested, Levi and Eren seemed adamant about holding either side of you as they walked you to the car. They seemed to finally be cooperating with each other.

They slid you in to the backseat of the car, you crossed your arms over your chest and sighed, “you guys are treating me like a child.”

Eren opened the drivers side door and sat down, “maybe next time don’t mix wine and weed, and I’ll treat you like an adult.”

You looked up at Levi as he leaned over to slowly buckled you in, “sorry,” was all you could say to him.

”It’s fine,” he tucked your hair behind your ears, his hand lingered there for a moment before he pulled himself away, “I’ll see you around, okay?”

You nodded at him as he shut the back door. 

Zeke jogged out from the restaurant, bid his goodbyes to the rest of the group and jumped in on the passenger side of the car. Their car had sped out of the parking lot the moment Zeke shut his door, and all Levi could do was watch. He kicked a chunk of slushy snow under his foot. This was the second time now that he had to watch you leave with Eren. 

Behind him he could hear Mikasa begin to laugh, it started out as a small snicker but soon enough she had broken in to a full fit of laughter. Armin pulled at her sleeve begging her to stop. She refused, she found this whole situation amusing.

”What are you laughing about?” Levi turned around sharply.

”You. This. Everything.” She composed herself, “You’ve got it bad for her, just like everyone else.”

Armin gave her a warning look in an attempt to make her stop.

“What do you mean by everyone else?” Levi asked.

“You, Eren, Zeke, probably has some feelings there, her high school ex still thinks about her to this day, even her best guy friend is head over heels,” Mikasa held in her laughter this time, “Reiner? Don't you want to take a stab at her?”

Reiner shrugged, his hands stuffed in to his coat pocket, “I guess, she’s hot,” he wasn’t sure exactly where this conversation was going. To be honest, he just wanted a hit of whatever it was Mikasa smoked.

”Fuck, even I thought I had a crush on her too," she yelled out.

Reiner shifted awkwardly where he stood, he felt like he was listening in on a conversation he wasn’t meant to hear.

Armin tried to tug her back, “Mikasa, stop, you don’t need to do this right now.”

”No, keep going, why should that affect me?” Levi raised his brow.

”Because neither of us will get what we want in the end, but they’ll get each other.” Mikasa fumed. Armin shot a worried look back at Reiner who just shrugged, unsure of what was really going on in front of him.

”Y/N told me she didn’t think of him that way.” Levi stated.

Mikasa's eyes widened in realization, “oh my god, he doesn't know?”

”Know what?” Levi hesitantly asked.

”Her ex broke up with her because of Eren. She fucked her best friend to spite Eren. She may not know it, but everything she does has something to do with him.” Mikasa yelled, “you might feel like she’s all yours when you kiss, she’s just that fucking good at making you feel special in the moment, but she isn’t.”

Armin tugged back on her sleeve, “Mikasa, stop, you’re not thinking straight. You're not making sense.”

”No,” she pulled herself away, “because if he doesn’t understand this now, he’s going to have to learn it the hard way.”

All of Levi’s previous suspicions turned out to be true. Deep down this whole time he knew there was more to yours and Eren's relationship but he had pushed it away. He was mad at himself for ignoring the signs, but he couldn't be mad at you. In the end, he was fine with having you in whatever way you'd let him. Even if it meant it wouldn't last forever.

"I don't care," Levi resolved out loud as he took in a shaky breath, "I'll let her string me along."

Mikasa gave him a disgusted look, muttered something under her breath and walk off from the group, pulling out her phone to make a call.

Reiner gave Levi an awkward pat on the back, "that's rough, my guy."

Levi quickly brushed his hand away and gave him a funny look.

"Sorry," Armin quickly yelled to Levi, before running off to chase after Mikasa.

Once he caught up to her, Mikasa quickly ended the call with an annoyed look on her face.

"Why would you do that?" He asked, slightly out of breath from chasing after her.

She sat down on a nearby bench and handed her unlocked phone to her friend. She pulled her legs up and hugged herself tightly, Armin hadn't seen her look this defeated in a long time. He looked down at the lit up phone screen, his brows raised in surprise as he looked at the most recent call.

"Jean?" He asked, "that's y/n's friend?"

She looked up at him and nodded, "he asked me for a favour," she gestured her hand towards the restaurant, "that's why I-"

"He wants you to break them up?" Armin sat down beside her, "that's why you did all of that?"

She hugged herself in tighter and nodded, "he thinks if we get Levi to doubt her and blame it on Eren, she'll distance herself from the both of them, that way she'll go back to Jean and I could have Eren. Stupid, right?" She let out a small laugh, "I guess my crush on him was pretty obvious to outsiders."

"I always thought you liked him," Armin rubbed her back comfortingly, "But-"

Mikasa looked back up from her little huddle, "I gave up on him returning my feelings a long time ago."

"Then why would you go along with this stupid plan?" Armin pulled his hand away and gave her a stern look.

Mikasa turned her head up to the sky and smiled, "because, I want Eren to be happy."

Armin gave her a confused look, "how would creating a rift between them all make Eren happy?"

"Because, Jean's plan won't work, she's going to pick Eren." Mikasa closed her eyes as the cool winter wind blew through her dark hair, "I'll make her pick Eren."

* * *

Eren opened up the back door as you fumbled to remove your seatbelt. He reached his hand over you and unbuckled it, an annoyed look ever-present on his face. Which just annoyed you even more.

"How gentlemanly of you," you snarked at him as you slid from the back seat, pushing him away from you on your way out.

He sighed as he watched you angrily march towards the entrance of your apartment complex.

"Go deal with her yourself," Zeke said with an unlit cigarette between his teeth, "you wanted to bring her home, she's your problem tonight, I'm gonna have a smoke."

Eren nodded before chasing after you. He opened the main door before you could even get your hand on the handle yourself. You were annoyed out of your mind with him now, you just couldn't understand why Eren kept getting in your way. Your mind was already foggy enough, you didn't want to have to deal with his antics right now.

Lucky enough for you, he stayed silent the whole way to the apartment. It annoyed you how he walked so close to you, as if he was waiting to catch you if you stumbled over your feet. You were tired of him treating you as if you were weak and in constant need his assistance.

He followed you like a lost puppy in to the apartment. All of your anger and frustration towards him bubbled to the front of your chest as your body acted on instinct as you swung your arm back to smack him in the chest. He caught your wrist in his hand before you could make contact with him. You tried to pry his hand off from you, but he was quick to pull your other hand away with his free hand. You hated how close he was to you, you hated how easily he could disarm you and you hated most that he looked down at you with concern instead of his trademark smirk.

"Just stop treating me like a fucking child!" You shouted at him.

He sighed and let go of your wrists stepping back from you, "sorry," was all he said.

You groaned as you stomped towards your room, lifting your shirt up in the process and then tossing it in to your laundry basket.

"What are you doing?" Eren covered his eyes with his hands.

You rolled your eyes as you shimmied your pants down and kicked them off to the side, "getting changed."

He peaked between his fingers, "Zeke's going to be back any minute now."

Your back was turned to him as you unclasped the back of your bra, "so what," you looked over your shoulder.

Eren gulped down, before scrambling in to your room to shut your bedroom door. He kept himself pressed up against the wood frame, refusing to turn himself towards you again. He couldn't understand why you were constantly hot and cold with him. You worried him and made him nervous, all at once. It was a never ending loop with you.

"You need to stop playing games with me." He said quietly.

You scoffed, as you pulled a loose fitted shirt over yourself, "you're the one always playing games."

He slowly turned his head over to look at you. 

There you were, laying down in your bed, legs crossed at the ankles and propped up on your elbows staring right back at him with soft eyes. If he had any guts he would have told you at this moment he loved you, but he didn't. He slowly approached you and sat on the floor beside the bed leaning himself against it.

"I'd never play games with you," he looked at you with sincerity in his eyes.

You turned on to your side, closed your eyes and sighed, "then why do you keep interfering?"

You could feel the weight in the bed shift as Eren pulled himself up in your bed beside you as he slowly answered your question, but you never got a chance to hear what he said as you drifted off in to a deep sleep.


	23. Fire escape

You woke up with your head pressed on a clothed chest with your legs somewhat intertwined. Strong arms were wrapped loosely around the small of your back keeping you in place. You tried to comb through all your memories of the night before but for the life of you you couldn't remember falling asleep next to anyone. The only thing you were sure of was that this was your room.

You slowly pulled yourself up from the sleeping anomaly below you. You let out an audible gasp as you realized who it was. With the morning sun beating in to your room there was no mistaking who it was. Your mind raced around as you tried to figure out how in the world you ended up falling asleep half on top of him.

Eren stirred beneath you as his hands grazed your bare thighs, "am I still dreaming?" He asked in a husky voice as his teal eyes fluttered open. 

You quickly jumped away from him on to the other side of the bed. Your hand pressed tight to your chest as you tried to calm down your racing heart. Eren shifted himself to the side to face you. You still couldn't wrap your head around why he was in your bed.

"Did we-" You turned yourself to face him as you pointed your finger back and forth between you two, "did we do something last night?"

Eren closed his eyes and sighed deeply, "nothing happened," he then let out a soft chuckle as if he suddenly remembered something, "although, you did strip for me."

You gave him a blank stare as you began to process his words, "I'm sorry, I did what?" Your cheeks flushed red.

He clasped his hand around yours, intertwining your finger together and smiled as his ears blushed a faint red, "don't worry, I kept my eyes closed the whole time."

You quickly pulled yourself away, bringing yourself to a standing position and wrapped yourself up in your robe. Eren stayed in your bed, he was still wearing his clothes from last night. You let out a sigh of relief at that. Although, now you were standing up you could see your own clothes from last night tossed around your floor.

You had a headache now, "you need to leave."

He pouted back at you as he snuggled in to your duvet, "but, I'm so comfortable." You rolled your eyes and pointed at the door, Eren sluggishly pulled himself up in to a sitting position on your bed and smirked, "you sure you want me walking out of your room with Zeke just on the other side?"

You let out a low groan as you plopped back down on your bed and kicked your legs out in frustration, "fuck, fuck," you turned your head to look back at Eren, "why would you even stay in here?"

He tucked a stray strand of hair behind your ear, "you just look so pretty when you sleep, how could I leave?"

Your face felt hot again. Why was he making you feel so flustered? His hand stayed there, lingering on your skin. You could have pushed him away but you didn't, instead you melted in to his touch. His teal eyes bore in to yours as if he was searching for approval from you as he slowly leaned in towards you. You had an urge to kiss him, you wanted to kiss him, you needed to kiss him.

A soft knock on your door brought you back to reality. Coming back to your senses, you quickly shoved Eren away from you, ultimately pushing him off the side of your bed leading to a loud thump that could be heard on the other side of your door.

"Y/N, you okay?" You could hear Zeke ask through the door.

"All good, just give me a sec," you called out before turning back to Eren and giving him a stern look, "hide, please."

He obliged and tucked himself away in your closet. Once he was hidden away, you cracked your door open and peaked your head out.

Zeke looked down at you with a funny look on his face, "did you trip out of your bed?" He peered behind you as if to see if there was something in your room that could have caused the sound from earlier.

"You know me, I'm just clumsy," you waved his concern away with a nervous laugh.

He nodded in agreement, "anyways, I made a huge breakfast for us all," he tried peaking in to your room again, "I think Eren snuck out this morning, I can't seem to find him."

"I haven't seen him," you shrugged, "but food sounds great, let me just quickly get changed and I'll be right out."

"Alrighty, I'll set you up a plate." Zeke turned around and made his way back to the kitchen. "Hopefully, Eren comes back before it all gets cold.

You quickly shut your door and let out a breath you didn't know you were holding in. You quietly made your way to your closet door, sliding it open to see Eren huddle in the back corner.

"We need to find a way for you to sneak out of here," you turned your back on him as you tapped your hand on your head in an attempt to make yourself think harder on an escape route for Eren, "I don't want Zeke getting the wrong idea about us."

You were so lost in thought you hadn't noticed Eren had already stood up, till his arms were wrapped around your waist and his chin resting on your shoulder. A shiver ran down your spine as you realized how close he was standing to you. You couldn't think clearly when he was that close.

"What would be so wrong about that?" You could feel his warm breath against your neck, his lips were just millimetres away from your skin, "it's not like something isn't going on between us."

"Wait, I have an idea," you ignored what he said, slipping yourself out from his grasps and made your way towards your window. You slid it open and stuck your head outside, "you're taking the fire escape out!"

You turned back towards Eren and he just shook his head, "I am not climbing down the fire escape like a fucking criminal."

"Please, for my sake," you pleaded. "I'll do anything."

"Anything?" He smirked as he made his way towards you and the window.

"Yes, whatever you want," you rolled your eyes at his sudden excitement.

"Okay," he hoped through the window, "I'll be cashing that 'anything' at a later date, so don't you dare forget you owe me?"

"Fine, as long as it's nothing weird," you said before closing the window on him, and then your blinds.

Your headache was back now, you had a feeling you'd regret this little deal down the road. You had no time to figure out what Eren could possibly have on his mind for you to do, and you secretly hoped it would be something dumb like doing his laundry. As your mind pondered, you quickly changed in to a pair of sweats and a random hoody you had lying around.

Zeke gave you a questionable look as you stepped out of your room, "It took you a long while just to get changed in to that, eh?"

"I couldn't find my pants," you brushed him off as you sat at the table, "the food smells great by the way."

He raised his brow at you, but didn't say anything else as he passed you a plate. Neatly placed were two eggs, some bacon, toast and a side of hash browns, it looked delicious. As you were just about to dig in, Zeke stopped you.

"Shouldn't we wait for Eren to come back up?" He asked, a sly smile plastered on his face as he tapped his fingers against the table.

Just then the front door opened, as a sweaty Eren pushed through. You smacked your hand on your forehead in realization. Zeke had already figured out Eren spent the night in your room.

"Good to know your fire escape is safe," Zeke chuckled to himself, "You two are way too loud for your own good."

You slid down in you seat embarrassed out of your mind, as Eren just looked at his brother dumbfounded.

Zeke stood up and walked towards the front door pulling on his jacket, "I'm gonna go out for a smoke, and don't worry I'll be leaving town tomorrow so no need for you two love birds to sneak around anymore."

* * *

Zeke laughed to himself as he stepped out from the apartment complex in to the cool winter wind. He had a feeling that Eren might have liked you, he just never thought the kid would have ever acted on it. As for you, he couldn't exactly read where your feelings could be regarding his brother.

He had seen the two of you almost kiss on New Years Eve, and he was happy when he watched you pull yourself away from Eren at the last minute that night. Back then he thought maybe he still had a chance with you, although that was dumb of him to assume. Then when he saw you on campus cozying up with that Levi guy, he knew you had full drifted away from his reach.

His minor crush on you was silly and childish, Zeke thought to himself as he lit his cigarette. He only liked you because you reminded him of his childhood, because you made him feel like he was home whenever you were near. Maybe that's why he always judged the other men in your life, because he couldn't bare thinking anyone else could feel the same way about you.

It didn't matter anymore, he decided to withdraw himself from this fight before he even had a chance to put himself forward. He knew you too well at this point. He could tell from the look on your face at diner last night that you had enough on your plate in the romance department, and he'd hate to put more pressure on you than needed.

He could only hope that whoever you picked in the end made you happy, made you feel like you were home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg I had to get a covid test today and ooof did that ever hurt my nose...(tested neg btw so we gooood)
> 
> anyways, thank you all for enjoying this story, you have no idea how happy it makes me to see all of your comments (sorry if I don't reply to every one but just know I read them all and I am so grateful for them). I honestly never expected to receive such positive feedback, and I just wow it makes me so happy!! I just want to give you all a big hug, so thank you all so much !! love u


	24. Unmatched

Mikasa sat quietly on a bench in the back of the gym as she wrapped up her hands. She hadn't been able to think straight, let alone quiet her mind for a few days now. Everything from that night seemed to weight more on her mind than anything else she was dealing with. It didn't help that Jean kept calling her after she clearly stated she no longer wanted part in any of what he was doing anymore. She was feeling immensely restless and needed to expel her pent up frustrations.

Although, it seemed her frustrations would rather continue to plaguing her.

"Why haven't you been returning my calls?" Jean stood in front of her, he looked like he hadn't slept properly in days.

She looked up at him and sighed, annoyance clear on her face, "did you not listen to my voicemail, I'm done." She stood up and walked around him towards the punching bags.

She prepped her stance as she faced the standard heavy bag. She bounced up on her toes before landing her first combo against the leather of the bag. She turned her head back towards Jean and narrowed her eyes on him.

"So you're just going to sit back and watch the person you love fall for someone else?" He asked her.

She stabilized the bag in her hands and scoffed at his question, "who said I anyone?"

"You did," Jean tensed up.

"Well, I must have lied," Mikasa let out a little laugh, "either way, like I said your plan won't work. You should stop before you get too ahead of yourself, don't ruin your friendship because you're jealous she won't touch your dick."

She could hear him grit his teeth, "you don't know it won't work."

"Listen, for someone with such a pretty face, she's a lot more complex than you take her for," Mikasa smiled to herself, "there's more players in this game than you think there is, and you might lose your spot if she ever finds out what you're planning."

Jean stayed silent, Mikasa took that as her chance to continue beating at the bag before her. She could only hope that what she said would get through his thick skull. She was sick enough with herself for even playing a casual role in his plan.

After landing her final hit to the bag, she turned around to see Jean sitting down on the bench she had been at previously. He was slumped over, his eyes glued to the floor mat at his feet. He looked like a rain cloud had permanently found residence over his life.

"I think I love her," he looked back up at Mikasa.

Mikasa sat down beside him, placing her hand on his shoulder in comfort, "you can't force her to feel the same way," she said quietly.

He covered his face in his hands and groaned, "I don't want to force her, I just-" he slid his hands down and rested them back on his thighs, "I just can't stand seeing her be with someone who will break her heart."

"If someone is going to break her heart, it'll be me," Mikasa pulled her hand off from him and began unwrapping her hands. "I'm warning you now, if you don't stop I'll tell her everything, I don't give any fucks about how you feel."

He looked back at her with a stunned expression etched on his face. Mikasa tossed her things in her gym bag and stood up, she was done with consoling him. She wasn't going to play nice about this anymore. She made her resolve about this issue the moment she walked back inside the restaurant with you.

Mikasa didn't get you high that night just to play by Jean's plan, she did it because she wanted to convince herself she would be fine knowing this plan could hurt you. But, as she passed the blunt to you she couldn't even bring herself to wanting to hurt you. She wanted to hate you from the moment she met you, but you were impossible to hate.

She told you she only tolerated you, but that wasn't true. She wasn't sure how she really felt about you, that was something she would figure out another day. All she knew was that it was more than just toleration she felt for you. 

Mikasa swung her bag over her shoulder and left the gym without bidding Jean any type of goodbye. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :/ sorry its a bit short


	25. For as long as I can have you

It had been just a few days since the dinner party incident. Zeke left the appartement just the other day, he didn’t try to pester you further about his suspicions of you and Eren. But that was the least of your worries, Eren was still dangling the favour you owed him and refused to cash it in on anything practical. You tried to revoke it, considering Zeke found out he spent the night in your room, but he claimed you still owed him for making him sneak out in the brisk morning.

To make matter more complicated, you hadn’t had the chance yet to speak with Levi about that night. A sick feeling sunk in your stomach each time you wracked your brain, as you tried to figure out some kind of excuse or explanation for your behaviour that night. You felt horrible for bringing him in to a theoretical wolfs den just to leave him behind, when he didn’t even want to go in the first place. As straightforward as he was, you knew he wouldn’t confront you about that night.

And that’s why you found yourself on a Tuesday evening standing outside his dorm room door. As you knocked on the door, you contemplated for a moment running away and forgetting all about it.

That sinking feeling from earlier crept back up down your chest in to the pit of your stomach when it wasn’t Levi who opened his main door, but Petra. She was chipper when she greeted you, as she threw her head back to tell Levi you were there to visit, but you couldn’t help but notice her eyes looked puffy and her cheeks red. Almost as if she had just finished crying over something.

You felt awkward as if you were intruding.

Levi quickly waved you over to sit by him on the couch, but instead you opted for the single seat. Pulling your legs up on the chair and hugging yourself in tightly and resting your chin on your knees. The air in the room felt heavy and stale. There was so much you wanted to say to him, but with Petra still in the room you felt out of place.

Petra left not long after. As she departed you couldn’t help but notice Levi shoot her a worried glance as she returned him a tight lipped smile. It was as if they were communicating with each other in silence. You wanted to be angry about it, you wanted to prod him about his relation with her, but you knew that would be wrong. You had your own things that you kept hidden from him. You never told him the truth about your own relationship with Eren, not that you really knew what that was. You had no right to feel any flicker of jealousy over her. It wasn’t fair what you were doing, and that’s what ate you up inside.

You both stayed quiet for a moment, til you rested your head back on the chair and broke the cold chill of silence, “I’m sorry about the other night.” Your throat felt hoarse and crackly but you kept going, “I don’t know why I did any of that, or why I,” you couldn’t bare to look at him, “why I didn’t leave with you. I’m sorry I didn’t call you the next day or tell you I was okay.”

You would have kept rambling on, if Levi hadn’t of moved himself to sit in front of you. He reached out and comfortingly rubbed your knee.

”It’s okay,” he sucked in a deep breath, “I’m not mad at you, you had a lot on your mind that night, didn’t you?”

You looked back at him and nodded, your thoughts escaped you, you didn’t expect him to be so nice about it. You couldn’t let him be that sweet to you, he didn’t deserve to be played by you.

“That’s not all,” you met your hand with his, “I haven’t been completely honest with you, about my relationship with-“

He cut you off before you could finish, “I know.” He intertwined his fingers with yours, “I don’t need to know all the details right now,” he looked down before meeting his eyes with yours again, “it’s selfish, but I want to hold on to you a little bit longer.”

He cupped you face with his over hand, you leaned in to his touch closing you eyes, “but, that’s not fair to you,” you spoke quietly.

”That’s fine with me,” he leaned in close to you, “I’m used to being toyed around,” his lips grazed yours, “I want you to toy with me.”

He pulled himself away from you, never fully completing the kiss, and stood up from where he was sitting on the coffee table. His hand still clasped around yours, he pulled you up and led you back towards his bedroom. You weren't sure exactly what was going on in his head as he sat down on his bed and pulled you up on his lap, bringing you in to a deep kiss.

With his hands tangled in your hair and yours holding tight to the collar of his shirt, you wanted to ask him what he meant by 'toy'. You pulled away breathless, your chest felt heavy, but before you could ask him he spoke first.

"Don't worry about anything," his eyes glued to your lips, "I'm all yours till you decide you're done with me."

He laid you gently down on his bed, he leaned down slowly to kiss you again. Your chest tightened up as you began to feel anxious. This was beginning to feel all too familiar, you couldn't help but compare his sudden devotion to you, to the way Jean had become to you back then. 

And you knew how that story ended already. albeit them being completely different situations and different men entirely, you couldn't help but suddenly feel trapped. As much as you could ever want Levi, you didn't want to fall down the same trap you had with Jean.

You pushed Levi's chest up from yours, stopping him from leaning in any further, "I don't want to have sex tonight."

He quickly pulled back, rolling off to the side of the bed and apologized.

"You can hold me though," you said pulling him arm around your waist.

He snuggled in close to you, pulling you in to him. Neither of you said a word. You wanted to stay like that for forever, not a thought in your mind, just his arms wrapped tightly against you. But, you couldn't help your mind from wandering, you were full of thoughts you couldn't quite verbalize just yet. You had so many things you wanted to ask him. So many things that you wanted to ask everyone one else who crossed your path.

As comfortable as you had initially felt with Levi, you could feel the rift between the two of you growing by the minute. Maybe it was your fault for keeping the lines between your relationship status with him blurry. Or, perhaps it was your ever so confusing relationship with Eren that kept wavering over you. At best, it could have been your past relationship failures that kept you worrying.

You didn't even know what you wanted anymore. Everything was beginning to feel more and more confusing by the minute. If only you could read minds, maybe then you'd be able to make up your own.

Levi's hand grazed your side slowly, as if he were drawing lines from your shoulder down to your hips with his fingers. His subtle movements brought you back to reality and out of your head. If you couldn't read his mind, maybe you could at least pick at it.

"Can I ask you something?" You spoke softly.

Levi hummed as he nuzzled his head against your back, sliding his arm around you, "yes."

"Was Petra crying before I came over?" You asked him. "I know its not my business to ask, it's just been bothering me."

He tensed up at your question, but answered you nonetheless, "she broke up with her boyfriend, again."

You turned yourself to face him, "oh, that's too bad."

He rolled on to his back, "she'll be fine," he sighed as he kept his eyes on the ceiling, "she always manages to get back with him eventually, they're like clockwork."

Neither of you said a thing after that. Levi had seemingly drifted off to sleep within minutes, but you laid awake the whole night lost in thought. You weren't the only who was keeping secrets, there was something more to the way levi sighed after mentioned Petra's ex. Your suspicions kept you up the whole night as you pondered what more could there be to the little information he gave you. All of it circled back to what Levi had told you earlier in the night, as he gave you permission to toy with him. 

_Had Petra been the one who used to toy with him?_

As the first light of day broke through the curtains of Levi's room, you quickly collected your things and quietly snuck out of his room before he could wake up. You had a lot on your mind as you left the residence building. You couldn't clear your head whatsoever, you'd need something strong for you to just slightly escape your thoughts.

You quickly pulled out your phone with your freezing cold hands and scrolled though your contact list till you found who you were looking for.

Mikasa.

"Who is it?" Her voiced echoed on the other line.

"It's Y/N," you paused for a moment almost wanting to double back on what you planned on asking her, "I think I need what you gave me the other night."

The line was silent for a moment before Mikasa finally spoke, "I'll text you my address."


	26. Not your saviour

You had never been to Mikasa's place prior to this morning. Honestly, before today you hadn't a clue what side of town she even lived on, you didn't know how close her apartment was to yours, at most it was a short 10 minute walk away. It had been practically three years since you met her the first time, and this whole time she lived minutes away from you. Maybe if you had known this earlier you would have tried harder at being friends with her, but then again, she knew exactly where you lived and she never once tried to reach out to you.

Mikasa swung the door to her studio apartment open. Her oversized cardigan hung low over her arms, leaving her shoulders exposed as all she had under was a dark tank top, her sweat pants sat low on her waist revealing just a peak of her toned physique. She had dark circles under her eyes, as if she hadn't slept for days, and yet she still looked as attractive as she normally did.

"Sorry, did I wake you up?" You asked, as you stepped inside, the smell of freshly baked goods and her vanilla perfume hit your nose the moment you stepped through the door.

"I wasn't sleeping," she walked away from you and pulled two muffin trays out from her oven, "by the looks of it, neither did you? Lemon cranberry muffin?"

You nodded, "we're you up all night baking?"

You reached your hand out to grab one from the tray, she quickly tapped you away, "it needs to cool first, sit I'll bring them over to you," she nodded her head in the direction of her small futon.

As you sat down on Mikasa's futon you weren't exactly sure what to do with yourself. You weren't even sure what yours and hers dynamic was at this point. At best all you knew was that she didn't hate you outright, she tolerated you. You still couldn't understand what that meant yet. Did she mean that in a negative way, or was it perhaps a positive tolerance she had for you. At least, she let you inside her home.

You fidgeted around in your spot till Mikasa joined you on the futon, she placed a small plate with a muffin on your lap. She didn't say anything to you. It was almost eerie how quiet she was with you.

"I didn't know you liked to bake?" You looked at her, holding the muffin up in your hand.

You didn't take her for the baking type.

Mikasa leaned her head back on the futon and closed her eyes, "only when I'm cramming."

You nodded your head and hummed as you bit in to the muffin. That wasn't the answer you were looking for, and Mikasa could tell you wanted more out of her as she turned her head to watch you eat.

"I have an assignment I've been stuck on, baking helps me clear my head." She rolled her shoulder, cracking it in the process, "is it good? It's a new recipe."

You nodded again, your mouth was too full to speak. She was being somewhat nice with you again, just like the other night. Although you could tell she was still holding up a cold front with you, you wondered how much effort it would take to crack down her walls.

She stared at you a little longer, before stretching her arms out in front of her and tapping her hands against her knees, "anyways, I don't have anything for you to smoke," her voice began to trail on as her eyes were now fixed on the wall in front of her, "but I have gummies or chocolate."

You swallowed down the last bit of the muffin, "I've never tried either," you rubbed the back of your neck nervously unsure of what to pick, "what would you suggest?"

"Depends on the high you want," she stood up from her spot and rummaged around in a table side drawer, pulling out two separate sealed containers, "I find the chocolates make me sleepy and the gummies get me wiry, it might be different for you, they're both the same in quantity of THC, but the chocolate is higher in CBD."

"I guess," you hesitated before choosing, "I'll go with the chocolate." Mikasa nodded tossing the container over to you, "how much do I owe you?"

Mikasa scoffed at that, "nothing, It's not like I'm a dealer," she watched you fidle with the container, "it's a pinch top, like a pill bottle." She pointed to the ridge on the side.

"Ah okay," you nodded, pinching on the ridge popping open the lid.

She looked off to the side, "anyways don't take the full thing at once, especially since you're not used to this stuff, when you try it just take a small bite and then after-" she stopped talking as she noticed you pop the whole chocolate in your mouth, "are you stupid? Why are you doing it now?"

You shrugged, before shrinking back where you were sitting a sour look crossed your face, “bitter,” you shook your head sticking out your tongue.

You expected it to taste sweet, but instead you were met with the aftertaste of dry cocoa and weed.

Mikasa stared at you blankly, she had never been more tempted in her life to smack someone before today. She groaned in to the palms of her hands, “why couldn’t you wait till you got home?”

You shrugged again, “I don’t know, I just thought-“

”Thought what? That I would babysit you?” She rolled her eyes at you as she stood up, she ran her hand through her raven hair before stomping towards her fridge and pulling out a bottle of water, “god, you’re so frustrating. You’re like a literal child, sometimes.”

You were offended by how easily she talked down to you. The venom in her words stung, she thought of you as nothing but a stupid kid. Whereas you looked at her like a friend. To her you were a nuisance, you were beginning to understand what she meant by tolerate and it wasn’t in a positive light.

She shoved the bottle in your face, “drink it.”

”I feel fine,” you gulped down half the bottle nonetheless, afraid that if you didn’t she’d scold you further.

”Give it an hour, and you won’t be feeling fine anymore,” she stared you down from where she stood, “you don’t even know what your tolerance level is, why did you take the whole thing,” her tone of voice shifted from malice to worry as she slumped down beside you on the futon, “you could break that thing in to four pieces, that could have been four separate uses.”

You squeezed the water bottle in your hand as you tucked your legs upon the futon, “sorry, I’m really fine, I can go home,” you said quietly.

Mikasa sighed leaning her head back and closing her eyes, "it's fine just stay, I didn't exactly have plans to go anywhere today anyways."

"Really?" You looked back at her with wide round eyes, jumping up from your early recoiled position towards her placing your hand on her thigh.

Mikasa tensed up under your touch, her eyes flashing open only for her to realize how close you'd gotten to her. You were too warm and too bubbly for her at this moment. She needed something to keep you occupied, she didn't want to deal with you being clingy or cutesy with her right now. She couldn’t understand how any of your friends could deal with you sober, let alone inebriated.

As much as Mikasa wanted to shoved you out her door in this instance, she knew she was the catalyst for your sudden erratic behaviour today. Meaning she would have to take responsibility for it.

She quickly brushed you away from her before standing back up again. She disappeared from your view, leaving you to sit alone, moments later she returned with a colouring book and crayons in hand. She placed them down on the coffee table in front of you, before grabbing her laptop and sitting back beside you.

"I'm going to work on school things, you can busy yourself with that," she barely glanced at you, "let me know when you start feeling it."

You stared at her for a moment before diving right in to the colouring book, its not like you really had anything else to do as you waited for your high to come. Albeit it being a childish activity, it kept you occupied for the time being, or at least till you became bored with it some hours later.

You pulled yourself up on the futon and laid down on your back. Your head was an inch away from Mikasa's leg, she looked down at you slightly confused as she closed her laptop and placed it on the coffee table.

"What were you working on?" You asked her, you scooted yourself a little closer to her, your head almost sitting in her lap.

"Just school stuff," she shrugged, "nothing interesting really, it's boring."

You closed your eyes and hummed, "I don't care, tell me I'm interested, I want to know."

Mikasa looked down at you and smiled. A strange feeling bubbled at the pit of her stomach, but as soon as she felt it, it disappeared as if she willed the feeling away herself the moment she became aware of it. She still thought of you mostly as a nuisance, but in this quiet moment you had at least made yourself somewhat more tolerable to bear with than normally.

She began to explain to you what she was working on. She was right, most of it was boring, if anything the long drawn out details and technical words Mikasa used probably would have put you to sleep. You were almost about to doze off as Mikasa began running her fingers through your hair. She was still talking and probably hadn't noticed that she was playing with your hair, she was gentle and soft. You kept your eyes closed tight, scared that if you were to open them she'd stop.

If you could you would have stayed like that forever. You felt so comfortable as she slowly raked her fingers through your hair. Her slow movements probably would have put you to sleep, if you hadn't felt so self-aware in that moment. You were so engrossed with the way her hand felt as it petted your hair, you hadn't even realized she had stopped talking about her class work minutes ago.

"You can open your eyes, I know you're not sleeping." You popped an eye open to see Mikasa looking down at you, a sly smile on her face, she had caught you.

Your cheeks went red in embarrassment and she let out a soft laugh. Her fingers continued to comb through your hair. You stared back up at her, she was so pretty from this angle. She had always been pretty in your eyes, but at this moment her features looked softer to you.

"Do you remember the night we first met?" You asked her quietly.

Mikasa quickly turned her face away from you, preventing you from reading her expression, "I do."

Her hand had completely stopped running through your hair. You wanted her to look back down at you, meanwhile Mikasa wanted you to change the subject.

In a way, it was Mikasa's wish that came true.

Your phone began to ring somewhere off in the distance. It sounded so close, yet also terribly far away. You dumbly patted yourself, as you tried to find it thinking it would be somewhere on your person. As you finally made eye contact with Mikasa again, you noticed her point her finger towards your phone that sat on the coffee table, right beside the colouring book you were once occupied with.

She rolled her eyes, as you jumped off from your position on her lap to reach out for your phone. She found your current dumb state kind of cute, but she'd never say that out loud to you. Although that cuteness quickly disappeared as your face fell when you looked at the caller ID on your phone. Without hesitation you quickly tossed your phone at Mikasa, smacking it against her chest, she was too distracted watching you fumble around prior to that, she didn't have the chance to properly catch it.

You were sitting down on the floor now, lips pouted and wide eyed, "can you answer it?"

Mikasa looked down at your phone that now sat in her lap, Jean's name flashed across the screen as a picture of you and him together covered the entire display, she let out a sigh before swiping the screen and bringing the phone up to her ear, "Y/N's phone, how may I help you today?" She spoke in a mocking tone.

"Mikasa?" Jean sounded surprised, but quickly returned to his regular tone of voice, "where's Y/N? She skipped all her classes today."

Mikasa leaned back and rolled her eyes, "obviously, with me."

"I figured," Mikasa could hear his teeth grit as he spoke, "but where?"

He was starting to really piss her off.

"At my place," Mikasa answered.

He was silent for a moment, all Mikasa could hear were his shallow breaths, "I'm coming to get her, before you screw things over."

"Who's to say I haven't already?" She smirked to herself, as she looked back down at you. There was a lot of power in those words, she could have meant anything by that, but she knew exactly what Jean was thinking she meant by that. He must have thought she told you about his little plan.

The line went dead. Jean must have hung up. Mikasa shrugged and handed you back your phone, "time to sober up, daddy's coming to pick you up from daycare."

You were confused at first by what she meant, but as you slowly put two and two together you slumped over and hugged your knees tightly. Jean was coming to get you. Mikasa stroked your hair as you pouted to yourself. You didn't want to leave, especially now that she was finally acting nice with you.

Jean arrived not long after and you begrudgingly left with him, Mikasa was back to giving you a cold shoulder. The shift in her demeaned would have startled someone else, but you were coming to realize that's just how she would always be with you. You left her with a short wave, meanwhile Jean looked back at her with a dirty look for some reason. He must have had some sort of issue with Mikasa that you were unaware of.

Mikasa could finally relax now that you had left her apartment, you exhausted her completely and all you did was lay around all day like a fucking cat. Curling up against her, distracting her, you were a nuisance.

Mikasa was pulled out of her thoughts as her own phone began to ring, she didn’t even check to see who it was as she picked up.

”Hey, thought you said you were meeting me at the gym?” Eren spoke annoyance clear in his voice, he must have waited around for her.

”Uh, sorry I was cat sitting,” she paused and shook her head, “I mean babysitting, something like that,” she ran her hand through her hair and let out a deep sigh.

”Who do you know that has kids and willingly let you watch them?” Eren chuckled, incredibly confused as to what Mikasa was getting at.

”You,” she said plainly, before realizing she wasn’t making any sense and corrected herself, “I was with Y/N, she took an edible I’ve been watching her all day, your welcome, I guess.”

The line was silent for a moment, she expected him to roar at her in anger but instead she was met with his calm voice, “where is she now?” 

Mikasa leaned up against her window, looking down at the street, watching as both you and Jean stepped out from the building. You were too far away for her to make out your exact body language, but she could tell from your long strides that you didn’t seem happy as you walked off with him.

”Jean just picked her up,” Mikasa’s breath fogged the window, she wiped the glass down with her sleeve, once again bracing herself for Eren to yell at her.

But he didn’t.

”Why didn’t you call me?” He almost sounded sad, or maybe it was disappointment, “why him, you could have told me.”

Mikasa sighed, you and Jean were only specs in the distance now, she squeezed her free hand tight digging her nails in to her palm, “if you showed up today, she wouldn’t have seen you as some sort of saviour, she’s stressed and upset over something. If I would have had you come whisk her away, she would have projected those feelings on to you. Then you would lose. You’d lose her.”

”I don’t get it,” was all Eren replied.

“You don’t need to get it,” she chewed her lip, “just know I’m on your side for this.”

”How?” He asked.

Mikasa opened her palm, a visible red line was etched where her nails had dug in to her skin, “don’t worry about it, okay, I just need you to promise that from now on you will be the kindest you can be with her, don’t berate her about getting high, actually don't even mention having spoken to me about this, I think she'd hate that even more,” she leaned her head against the cool glass.

"Sure, I promise, but I still don't know what you're getting at?" He tried asking her.

"Just be sweet," Mikasa ended the call before he could ask or say anything else. The ball was in Eren’s court now. She had given him enough for him to hopefully make right with this, no matter how cryptic her words were. She hoped Eren understood what she meant.

* * *

The chilly winter air smacked you in the face the moment you stepped out from Mikasa’s place. It was fucking cold out and you wished you had worn a warmer jacket. You hugged yourself tightly as you took long angry strides on the sidewalk.

You had made some distance between yourself and Jean, making for him to have to jog just to catch up with you. Once he had caught up with you, from the corner of your eye you could see him hesitantly go to wrap his arm over your shoulder, but then he stopped himself midway instead stuffing his hands in his pockets.

”It’s cold today,” he said as he looked over at you.

You just nodded, you weren’t in the mood to talk right now.

“So what did you and Mikasa talk about?” Jean asked you, “I didn’t realize the two of you were friends.”

”We barely talked.” You looked down at your feet as you continued to walk in long quick strides, “I don’t think she would consider me as a friend.”

Jean chewed on his bottom lip, before questioning you further, “so she didn’t mention anything about me to you?”

You finally turned your head back to look at him, “why would she? Is there something I don’t know about going on between you two?”

Jean gave you an awkward laugh as he rubbed the back of his neck, “just wondering that’s all,” you knew him well enough to know he was hiding something from you.

”I don’t go around bringing you up in conversation with people you don’t normally interact with,” you stopped walking, “would there be a reason why she would want to talk about you?”

You could tell Jean was trying to think of something to say. He shuffled his feet a bit in the slushy snow, to try and come up with a plausible explanation for his interrogation but he couldn’t think of a thing. He knew you knew something was off, and there was no way for him to brush his odd topic of choice away.

”Never mind,” you shook your head and began walking again, “I don’t want to hear it, if you’re just going to make up a reason on the spot.”

You were about half a block away from your apartment now, you just wanted this walk to end. You didn’t want to deal with Jean acting suspicious around you for a minute longer.

”Look, Y/N, I-“ he tried to grab you back by your arm, but you shook him away, “I love you.”

You stopped dead in your tracks, closed your eyes and let out a sharp exhale, “no, you don’t.”

”I do, and I always have,” he spoke strongly, “why can’t you just let me love you? Is it that wrong for me to have feeling for you?”

”No,” you shook your head.

He stood in front of you now, placing his hands lightly on your shoulders, “then let me love you.”

“I can’t,” you tried to pull his hands off from you, but it was no use as he gripped you tight while his eyes searched yours for a different answer than the one you gave.

“You’re such a hypocrite, I know about you and your fucking tutor,” Jean sounded frustrated now, “you can play pretend girlfriend with him, but you can’t fucking let me tell you I love you.”

“That’s none of your business,” you knocked the bottom of your palm against his forearm, “let go of me, Jean.”

Jean leaned in close, “please, Y/N,” when you gave him no response he dropped his hands from your shoulders.

You brushed passed him, the rest of the walk was painfully silent. Neither of you spoke a word. As you approached the apartment complex, Jean quickly ran ahead propping the main door open for you.

"This is as far as you can go," you said quietly avoiding eye contact with him, you couldn't bear to see anymore disappointment in his eyes.

He stepped back to give you space, still holding open the door, "that's fine," he nodded curtly. "I'll email you the notes you missed today."

You shook your head as you stepped through the doorway, "don't bother, I'll ask Sasha for hers." You didn't even pause as you said that, you just walked away without giving him another word, not even a goodbye.

He could feel the rift between the two of you concave, it was no longer a small crack but a crater of distance between you two. Whatever chance he thought he still had with you dissipated with the slushy snow at his feet. Mikasa had been right the whole time, his plan was never meant to work, you weren't going to let him in anymore. He wanted to reach out and give you one final hug, but he knew that would be overstepping the lines you had just drawn out.

All he could do was watch you disappear from his view, as you made your way inside the building, leaving him out in the chilly afternoon air alone. It wasn't like he was never going to see you again, but he knew that after today you were never going to look at him the way you once did.

He stood there for a while, trying to comb through his memories, trying to figure out exactly where he went wrong in all of this. Reminiscing like that hurt, he should have known better then. You had always been honest with him about where you stood, he was the liar. 

As he walked away he couldn't help but wish you'd come chasing after him, like some stupid romantic comedy. Maybe as you ascended the elevator, you'd change your mind midway and come running out those door back to him. That maybe you'd come back in to his arms and hold him tight. It was a flicker of hope, if anything it was wishful thinking, but you never ran out to him. This wasn't a movie. He had done you wrong and he would have to live with that for the time being.

You felt dirty the moment you stepped in to the apartment. You wanted to collapse on the floor and be done with everything. The events of the last 24 hours were beginning to take a toll on you, and the remnants of your high weren't making you feel any bit better.

You moved in a daze from your room to the bathroom, holding a change of clothes and a towel. You locked the door behind you, jiggled the knob a few times over to double check and make sure it was locked and then dropped your things on the floor without a second thought. You ran the shower to a steaming boil as you quickly undressed yourself.

You stood under the burning water for what felt like ages before you came to and finally went about washing your hair and body. You felt almost like a zombie, with how slow and sluggish you felt. You gave up standing midway through your shower and plopped your ass down on the cold tiled floor. You sat there, just letting the water run over you as you scrubbed your body clean from the day.

By the time you got out of the shower, your skin felt raw and red. You luckily had enough sense at that moment to rub yourself down with cream, at least ensuring that sober you wouldn't have to deal with raw crusty skin the next day. You slowly dressed yourself, such an easy task felt like it took you ages to do. You were so worn out just from that you didn't even bother to dry your hair before stepping out from the bathroom.

You paused for a moment as you exited, your eyes locking with Eren's who stood leaned up against the kitchen counter. You didn't think he'd be home right now. He gave you a quick glance over, you expected him to say something lewd about your appearance, such as a remark about how short your shorts were or maybe about how the thin material of your shirt clung to your damp body. Instead he sucked in a deep breath and turned away from you.

"Do you want a hot chocolate?" He asked casually, not even turning his head around to see your response and began pulling out the necessary ingredients along with two mugs.

"Sure," your answered him, you narrowed your eyes on him as you tried to read his body language. Mikasa must not have said anything to him about earlier today, otherwise he would have acted much coldly towards you. You sat down on the stool by the counter, watching him intently as he buzzed around the kitchen. You couldn't quite gage what he was thinking, or why he wanted to make hot chocolate suddenly. 

It was strange, you honestly couldn't remember a time Eren had ever just done something for you without flashing you a cocky grin or demanding something in return. It was silly of you to think so deeply about him just simply making you a hot chocolate, but you couldn't stop yourself for trying to read in to it further. Was he being nice to be nice, or were there some form of ulterior motives to his actions. You were perplexed over a stupid hot chocolate.

He slid your mug over to you carefully, three large marshmallows floated at the top. He leaned up against the counter and took a sip of his, as he watched you caress your mug in your hands and bring it up to your lips.

Before you took your first sip, you smiled and quietly whispered a, “thank you,” he look back at you surprise at how quiet your voice was.

The hot chocolate was sweet and warm. It reminded you of being a kid, coming inside from playing out in the snow all day. Your cheeks would be cold and red as you huddled up close to the heater. It was such an old, yet familiar feeling, as if the taste of the hot chocolate brought you back to those days when you barely had a care in the world. For the first time today, you almost wanted to be treated like a kid again.

It was silly, but this small hot chocolate made you happy.

You were so wrapped up in your thoughts, you almost forgot Eren was still there with you till he cleared his throat to speak, “about you owing me for the fire escape thing,” he paused as he set down his mug and ruffled his hair, “you can forget about it. It was kind of dumb anyways, and, I mean it goes against everything I said to you the other night. Like I said I’d do anything for you, so I never actually needed a stupid dept out of you to convince me to climb down the fire escape. Holding that over you was wrong in my part, sorry.”

“I don’t remember you saying anything like that?” You looked back at him a little confused. As foggy as you felt right now, you couldn’t remember him saying he would do anything for you. You couldn’t remember a thing past when you laid down in your bed, when would he have said that.

”You don’t remember?” He looked like a dear caught in headlights, “well shit, this is awkward,” he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

”Well, what did you say?” You asked him.

“I can’t say it now,” his cheeks felt warm as he brought them up to his face, he was feeling extremely flustered now, “I bared my soul to you that night, If I say any of it now it won’t sound as sincere.” He turned his back to you in hopes to hide reddening face, “you must have fallen asleep while I was talking, god, I’m so stupid.” 

“Now I’m curious, I can’t imagine Eren Yeager ever baring his soul to the likes of me.” You rested your chin in your hands as you gave him a raised brow.

Eren slowly turned himself around to face you again, “I confessed my feelings,” he watched as your face fell, “of how much I care about you,” he quickly backtracked, he was going to give you half of the truth.

“You care about me?” You asked skepticism laced your voice.

He leaned over the counter top that separated the two of you, “I’ve always cared about you, I’ve known you since,” he paused running his hand through his again as if he was combing his brain to find the right words, “well, forever. How could I not care about you? You asked me why I kept interfering, it’s because I want what’s best for you, because I care.”

”We weren’t even friends in high school Eren, you’re talking out of your ass.” You narrowed your eyes on him. “You avoided me for the whole first year we lived with each other”

Eren looked down as his hands, avoiding eye contact with you again, “you probably just never noticed, but I always kept an eye on you from the sidelines.” 

“As if,” you finished the last sips of your hot chocolate and got up from your seat, “god, I almost believed you.”

You walked back in to your room, slamming the door shut in the process and collapsed on your bed. Whatever sweetness you felt moments ago, had become stale and bitter on your tongue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhh I can’t believe we’ve gotten to 10k hits!! WOW 🤩 I’m honestly speechless, when I started this I didn’t expect it to take off so well, so once again thank you all for reading, commenting and leaving kudos.  
> As for the next update, I can’t guarantee when it will be out next, I’m in the middle of midterm season right now so I might need to take a really tiny hiatus for the next week. But please don’t worry, I am not dropping this, I’ve got the outline for the next 4 or so chapters ready to go (I just need to actually sit down and write them).  
> Here’s a little spoiler of sorts to keep you on your toes, the next few chapters will take place in y/n’s first year of uni ;)) hehehe  
> Anyways love you all I hope everyone is having a lovely day/night ily
> 
> Quick PSA if you ever do do edibles PLEASE don’t take the full thing at once, take a bite figure out how you feel an hour or so later and depending on that you can go for another. Be responsible, only you know you can know your own tolerance don’t over do it. There a hundreds of resources on the web for you to check out before you consume any cbd or thc products, do your own research and figure from there what works best with you. Be safe!


	27. Back home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What events in your first year led you to the situations you find yourself in now.

You spent the summer leading up to your first term of university working at a children’s summer camp in the woods by some lake. You purposefully did that to stay out of your hometowns gossip indulging mothers, who were undoubtedly talking behind your back about your recent breakup with a certain, Floch Forster. The breakup had come out of nowhere and neither of you had given a clear reason for why it happened to the prying eyes of the town.

At this point getting out of that town had become a top priority of yours. You were exhausted with how your life events became everyone’s business. Even your own mother fed in to the gossip and rumours. 

You only spent a week back in town, before you moved all of your essentials to your new apartment in the city, and that week could have almost killed you. Marley was a suffocating small town, and if you hadn’t of had any ties to it you would have chosen to never come back to it at all.

Moving in was a rather quick process, most of the place was already furnished. All you really had to bring along with you were your clothes and some decor for your room. Considering both yours and Eren’s parents had found the place on a whim, during one of their couples get togethers, it wasn’t half bad of a place. It was spacious with a full kitchen and sitting room, plus the rent split between you two was cheap as hell for the area.

Although if there was a problem with the place, it was your roommate. You spent a good chunk of your summer worrying about how your new living dynamic with Eren would work out. The two of you hadn’t had a proper conversation alone with each other since you were in the 8th grade. The two of you had went your separate ways in high school, barely giving each other a second glance, and then add the whole grad night situation. You weren’t sure what to expect.

Your worries and expectations couldn’t have prepared you for the reality of living with him. He would be out of the apartment by 7am most mornings and you wouldn’t see him till late in the evening, if he even did come home. At first you thought he was diving deep in to his new life as a post-secondary school scholar, but then you came to the realization that he was just flat out ignoring your existence.

If anything it was like living with a ghost. Actually it was worse than living with a ghost, at least a ghost would acknowledge you with a haunt, Eren wouldn’t even look at you.

Those first six weeks were torture, and if you hadn’t of made any friends of your own, you weren’t sure how would have survive the radio silence from your roommate. Lucky enough, you met Sasha over orientation week and from then on the two of you stuck to each other like glue. From there your friend group expanded, as you let in Jean, who seemed to always pair up with you two during class work. The three of you spent most of your time together on campus, or at each other places.

But all good things come to a pause, as once mid-October hit you were faced with having to return home for reading week. You could have stayed in the city, but your parents insisted on you coming home to visit, they even purchased your train ticket in advance. You couldn’t say no. It seemed as though Eren couldn’t say no either, as he too had purchased a ticket home on the same train as yours.

Maybe if he would actually talk to you, you both would have coordinated to go to the train station together. Instead you both arrived separately, only to realize it when the two of you stood side by side on the platform.

”You too?” He nodded his head towards the train tracks below the platform.

You shrugged, “they missed me, I guess.”

”Figures,” he crossed his arms over his chest, “I mean, if my kid spent the whole summer away, then moved out, I’d beg them to come home at any chance I’d get.”

”Uh yeah,” you nodded back at him, this was the longest the two of you had spoken with each other in a long while.

The train pulled in not long later. As you boarded you couldn’t help but notice Eren trailing behind you. There was plenty of room in the cart, and yet somehow he decided to sit across from you. It was almost as if he were clinging to your presence.

You quickly brushed it off, he probably just chose to sit down at the closest available seat. It was if anything just a chance of the draw that it so happened to be the one directly across from you, out of all the other available spots. It was just a coincidence.

You put on your ear buds and leaned your head against the train window, relaxing in to your seat. This was going to be a long train ride anyways, might as well get comfortable. Your peaceful comfort lasted about a minute tops, as Eren suddenly shifted seats to sit right beside you.

He quickly tapped your shoulder then pointed to his own ear. You pulled out one of your ear buds and stared at him with a confused expression plastered over your face.

”I forgot mine,” he gave you a lopsided grin, “mind sharing?”

You narrowed your eyes at him but obliged nonetheless, passing him the other earbud. He quickly popped it in his ear and then proceeded to kick his feet up on the seat he had once resided in. He closed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. You froze in your spot once you noticed how close his shoulder was to yours.

This train ride was going to feel much longer than you anticipated.

Not too long in to the ride you could tell Eren had fallen in to quite a deep sleep. You turned your head over to look at him. You hadn't seen him from this close of an angle before. 

His brown hair was messy and longer than what it was in high school. His lips were slightly parted and his brows furrowed giving him faint frown lines between the brows. He was undoubtedly attractive, you'd just never tell him that to his face.

You weren't sure what possessed you to do it, but you found yourself reaching your hand out to his face to smooth out his brows. It was the slightest touch, you'd barely met the tip of your finger to his skin when his eyes fluttered open and his own hand grabbed your wrist.

"What are you doing?" He asked you, your wrist still in his hand.

"I thought you were sleeping," you quickly pulled your hand away and sat yourself up straight in your seat, avoiding looking his way. "Your face just looked tense, I don't know what I was thinking."

He let out a low chuckle and tapped his hand against you knee, lingering it there for a bit longer than he should have. You shot him a raised brow.

He shrugged, "your knee looked cold."

You nudged him in the side with your elbow. It felt strange to act playfully with him like this. You quickly scooted yourself further away from him, pressing your body closer to the window. You wished you could just read his mind. You wanted to know why he spent six weeks actively ignoring you, but act so casual around you now. He didn’t make sense.

The rest of the train ride was spent in silence. The two of you refrained from speaking to each other as you exited the train at the station. It was almost as if whatever moment the two of you had on the train passed, and you didn’t think it was ever going to come back.

You quickly spotted your dad and made your way over to him, whilst Eren trailed not far behind you looking around for his own family. After your dad let you out from his hug, he called out towards Eren.

”I’m bringing you home too, kid,” your dad reached up to ruffle Eren’s hair, “gosh, have the two of you grown, you’re both university students, crazy how time flies.” 

Eren gave an awkward laugh as he fixed his now messy hair, “yeah, feels like just yesterday we were trying to catch frogs in the ditch together,” he hooked his free arm around your shoulder pulling you in close to him, “right, Y/N?”

You just nodded, a little stunned at how touchy Eren was suddenly being with you.

”We’ll have to get both the families together sometime this week for a little dinner,” your dad clapped his hands together excitedly, “anyways, let’s go get you two home.”

As your dad turned around to lead the way out, you quickly pushed Eren’s arm off from you and shot him a dirty look. He raised his brow at you and let out a low breathy laugh, before grappling both yours and his luggage and running to catch up with your dad.

You stood there for a moment alone, shell shocked, this wasn’t the same Eren you had been living with for the past 6 weeks. This was a whole other person and you couldn’t figure out where he came from.

* * *

It was noon by the time Eren had woken up. He hadn't slept in this late in what felt like forever, he had only been home for a few days and he was already regressing back to his old high school sleeping habits. He still had sleep in his eyes as he walked in to the kitchen and fixed himself up a bowl of cereal.

"You're up late," Zeke stated from the kitchen table, his face burrowed in the newspaper before him.

"And you're still here," Eren quickly quipped back, "do you ever even visit with your mom?"

"I'm going back to hers tomorrow night," Zeke shrugged, "either way, yours cooks better than mine."

"Fair point," Eren said before he scooped a spoonful of cereal in to his mouth, as he chewed he stopped walking over to the table as something caught his eye, "who's car is that in Y/N's driveway?" He pointed his spoon towards the window that faced your driveway, in clear view was a white Jeep Wrangler, a vehicle neither of your parents owned.

"Huh," Zeke flipped down the front of his newspaper and craned his neck over to see, "oh the jeep, looks like Floch's."

Eren sat down, his eyes never wavering from the window, "I thought they broke up."

"She texted me a while back that they started talking again," Zeke folded his paper back up, "you know, distance makes the heart grow fonder or whatever crap."

Eren began angrily eating his cereal, then suddenly paused as he reflected on what his brother actually said, "wait, you text Y/N?"

"Almost every other day," Zeke smiled to himself, "she complains about you a lot, if you were wondering."

Eren leaned back in his chair and sighed, "since when have you two been so close?" Rubbing his hands over his eyes.

"For a while now, I like talking with her," Zeke smirked as he peaked his head over the paper once more to look at his brother, "I'm surprised you don't ever talk to her, she can be really cute when she gets flustered."

Eren rolled his eyes at his brother's remark. He had nothing more to say to him. He never had expected you to be in anyway close with his brother, but then again he had created so much distance between you two he probably just hadn't noticed how close you had gotten with him. It bothered him nonetheless, considering there was once a time where he was your favourite of the brothers. 

Eren spent the rest of the day periodically staring out the window that looked out towards your driveway, just checking to see if that jeep had moved yet. If he was bothered by your unexpected closeness with his brother, he was angered by the possibility of you maybe rekindling things with your ex. Not like he had any right to be upset by it. Sure, he was there the night the two of you ended things. Hell, he was pretty much the reason why that relationship had broken off.

He couldn't understand why you would actually want to rekindle things. You clearly told Eren that night, that the breakup was just a premature event you had been planning from the beginning. Why would you want him back now?

He tried to brush off his feelings about it, but every time he'd thought it had escaped his mind he found himself once again staring out the window. The final time he found himself like that, the jeep was driving away from his view. You were nowhere in sight, but he could clearly make out who sat on the driver’s side.

There was no doubt about it, Floch had spent a good chunk of the day at your place, and seemed to have conveniently left just moments before your parents would come home from work.

* * *

Like your father proposed, at the beginning of your stay home, the night before you were returning back to the city your family was having dinner with the Yeager’s. You weren’t enthusiastic about the night, your enthusiasm dwindled further when both sets of parents sent you and Eren away in his room, for the parents to have adult time. You felt like the two of you were being treated like toddlers, forced to play together in a playroom separate from where the adult conversations were happening. Specifically away from the alcohol, and if you were going to be stuck pretending to be close with Eren for your parents sake, you were going to need a few shots.

You awkwardly stood in the doorway of his room. You were surprised at how much of it hadn’t changed since elementary school, save for a few new medals and trophies from various sporting events from high school. The walls were still blue, the comforter on his twin sized bed was still a charcoal gray, it was all the same way you remembered it.

Eren pointed towards his bed, “it’s clean you can sit,” he turned away from you and began rummaging around in his closet as you sat down, “there you are,” he pulled out a beat up black backpack.

You looked back at him with a confused look on your face, while he stared at the bag in triumph.

“It’s my old field party bag,” he waved it around, “I had it at every party, I might have a mickey of Fireball in here, left over from the summer.”

You scrunched up your nose, “Fireball?” You were pretty sure the last time you drank that stuff you spent the whole night throwing up.

Instead he pulled out a mickey of the raspberry flavoured Sour Puss, you weren’t sure if that was any better of a drink. He opened the bottle and took a quick swig of the drink.

“It’s still good,” he handed you the mickey, “bitter, but good.”

You took it in your hand and swirled the liquid in the bottle, “if I get sick from this I’m blaming you,” you downed some of the bitter red liquor and passed the bottle back to Eren who was now sitting on the floor beside you.

“That’s fine,” he took another sip before passing the bottle back to you and leaned his head back on his bed to look up at you, “so are you and Floch a thing again?”

You almost spit out the sip of the drink you had just taken in, “no, where would you even get that idea from?”

He pursed his lips as if he was thinking, “I saw his car outside your place the other day, and Zeke may have said something about the two of you talking again.”

“That dumbass,” you mumbled under your breath before taking another sip, “I guess you could say we were talking.”

Eren chuckled, “so it was a booty call?”

“Sort of,” you quickly shook your head, “why do you care?”

“I don’t,” he shrugged, “just want to make sure I won’t run in to him back at the apartment one day, considering how he feels about me.”

You handed the bottle back to him, “well, no need to worry about that. He’s a fucking dick, I don’t understand how I ever liked him to begin with.”

“Glad to hear,” he downed the rest on the contents of the bottle, “I never liked him for you anyways.”

You rolled your eyes, before sliding yourself down to sit beside himself on the floor, “I missed talking to you like this,” you leaned your head against his shoulder.

You weren’t sure why you did it, it just felt like the right thing to do in that moment.

“Yeah,” Eren hummed, “same here.”

The two of you stayed like that in silence till you were called down to eat. The rest of the dinner went smoothly, almost as if both you and Eren had made an unspoken truce. You just hoped his good behaviour would transfer over towards your living arrangements, that maybe once the two of you went back he would acknowledge you.

* * *

Back in the city, Eren had quickly gone back to a similar version of the routine he had made prior to the reading week. His first Monday morning was spent back at the gym. He liked the gym best at this hour, it was quiet and empty save for a few other people.

"I guess you went home for the reading week?" Mikasa snuck up beside him at the weights, "can't say I missed you."

"As if," Eren grunted back at her as he placed the weights he was holding back on the rack.

After returning the weights to their spot, Eren grabbed the bottom of his shirt and used it to wipe the sweat that formed above his brow. As he let go of the fabric his eyes fell down on Mikasa, who was now holding his water bottle out for him. He mumbled a quick thank you as he took it in his hand.

As he downed the contents of the bottle, Mikasa pulled her dark hair up in to a ponytail, "since you dipped for a week, you'll be wearing the focus mitts today." She smirked at him before she turning around to make her way towards the back open area of the gym.

Eren rolled his eyes, last time he wore the focus mitts he ended up with bruised palms from how hard she landed her blows. Mikasa may have looked like a pretty girl to the average onlooker, but as Eren became closer friends with her he slowly discovered that she was a powerhouse. It would be a lie if he said he wasn't just a little bit scared of her. As he caught up to her, Mikasa tossed the mitts his way. She was already bouncing on her toes ready to start pounding away at him, as he scrambled to get them on quickly.

"So tell me about your week away," Mikasa prepped her stance.

_JAB._

"Nothing interesting happened," Eren shrugged.

_JAB. CROSS._

"Really nothing," She raised her brow as she took a step back, "so you're still avoiding her, aren't you?"

 _JAB. CROSS. HOOK_.

"Fine, I talked to her." Eren groaned, "are you happy now?"

_JAB. CROSS. HOOK._

"No," she blew a stray strand of hair away from her face. "Keep going."

_JAB. CROSS. HOOK._

"I thought if I avoided her the feelings would go away, but after being around her again they're back." Eren pouted. 

_JAB. JAB. CROSS. HOOK. JAB._

Mikasa rolled her eyes, "she must be something special to have you in this pathetic of a state."

_JAB. CROSS. HOOK._

Eren didn't say anything.

_JAB. JAB. CROSS._

"I'm almost jealous," Mikasa sneered.

_JAB. JAB. CROSS._

"You need to get her out of your system," Mikasa continued, "you know, find someone else to distract you for the time being."

_JAB. JAB. CROSS._

"What like you?" Eren raised his brow.

_JAB. CROSS._

Mikasa could feel her cheeks redden.

_JAB. JAB. CROSS._

"I'd rather it not be me," she averted her eyes from his. "Just use Tinder like a normal person."

_JAB. CROSS. HOOK._

"What makes you think I haven't been doing that already." Eren grimaced, as his heels slid back on the matt.

_JAB. JAB. JAB. JAB._

"If you're this pent up, just tell her." Mikasa dropped her hands to her sides, turned her back on him and made her way to the bench to sit down. She leaned her back against the cool concrete wall, took a sip from her water bottle and sighed, "what do you really have to lose?"

Eren slipped the focus mitts off from his sweaty hands and followed Mikasa towards the bench, "I dunno," he shrugged leaning himself against the wall now, "guess I'd rather play the long game for her, you know work my way in. If I go for it, it's not going to be a half assed one night thing, I'd want it to last."

Mikasa closed her eyes and pinched hard on the loose skin of her elbow, "well then, maybe you should actually build a proper rapport with her again, you won't get anywhere if she thinks you don't care about her. Start with friendship."

Eren nodded, the long game would start today. He didn't care how long it will take for the two of you to come together, he was going to put his all in to bringing himself back in to your good books.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M BACK !!!  
> I still have another exam and a presentation to hand in, so I think the next update might not be out till next Saturday (at least that's what I'm aiming for).  
> But I am really hyped for the next two chapters hehehe  
> anyways hope everyone is having a lovely day/night, love y'all :)


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